Boutros-Ghali to send envoy to East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is sending a special envoy to East Timor as a forerunner to the fourth round of talks in January between Indonesia and Portugal.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas made the confirmation yesterday but emphasized that various envoys would be sent.

"Ahead of the tripartite talks, the secretary general will send two envoys to Indonesia and also to Portugal," Alatas said.

Under the aegis of Boutros Ghali, the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers are due to meet for the fourth round of talks in Geneva to settle the issue of East Timor on Jan. 9, 1994.

The three prior meetings, though skirting the core issue of an internationally acceptable solution to East Timor problem, agreed on a series of confidence building measures which have led to a visit by Portuguese of East Timorese descent to Jakarta and East Timor last March.

East Timor became a part of Indonesia in 1976, a move which to this day has not been recognized by the United Nations.

The arrival of the envoys is nothing new as the UN and other state delegations send observers to Indonesia's youngest province periodically.

Speaking on the 29 East Timorese youngsters who recently left Jakarta for asylum in Portugal, Alatas scoffed at their actions saying that they would soon realize the hardships of living in exile. "Let them experience for themselves how bitter it is to live in a country that once subjected you," he said.

The 29 East Timorese scaled the fence of the United States embassy on Nov. 12 and occupied the parking ground for 12 days until their departure for Lisbon on Nov. 24.

"Those 29 must have been roused by outside people," Alatas said.

In the East Timor capital yesterday, Dili Police Chief Col. Andreas Sugianto said yesterday that his officers have arrested a civil servant believed to have been the "brain" behind a series of anti-government demonstrations these past two weeks.

Col. Sugianto further said that the police are also hot on the trail of others behind the riot. "We haven't had the right opportunity to arrest them. The police are still seeking additional information," he remarked.

Spokespersons for the PPP and PDI provincial factions yesterday in Dili called on the authorities to show leniency for the young men arrested, citing economic hardship and other social problems as reasons for the riot. (mds/yac)