Clinton meets Belo, supports E. Timor peace

Clinton meets Belo, supports E. Timor peace

WASHINGTON (Agencies): U.S. President Bill Clinton briefly
dropped in on a meeting to meet Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes
Belo yesterday and pledged his support for peace and
reconciliation in East Timor.

The impromptu meeting occurred when Belo, co-winner of the
1996 Nobel Peace prize, was meeting with U.S. National Security
Adviser Sandy Berger at the White House Tuesday.

Clinton promised to continue raising human rights issues with
Jakarta.

White House spokesperson Mike McCurry told reporters that
Clinton and Belo talked for about 15 minutes.

"The president expressed his interest in peace and
reconciliation for the people of East Timor," McCurry said.

He added that Clinton expressed "our willingness to continue
to raise issues with respect to human rights in our discussions
with people in the region, specifically with the government of
Indonesia."

Separately, U.S. State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns
told a press briefing that Belo was also scheduled to meet with
U.S. Under Secretary of State Tom Pickering.

He said the meeting "illustrated the very great importance
that the United States gives to dialog between Indonesia and
Portugal, between the parties, between different communities and
different groups within East Timor itself."

"We support the Portuguese-Indonesian talks and we are very
glad that he is here. As you know, Mr. Ramos-Horta, the fellow
Nobel laureate of Bishop Belo, was also in Washington a couple of
weeks ago when Secretary Albright was overseas, and Under
Secretary Tim Wirth and Assistant Secretary John Shattuck had
good discussions with him.

"So we very much want to continue to be part of the solution
to the problems of East Timor and today's meetings illustrate
that."

Tuesday's spontaneous meeting came on the eve of today's on-
going tripartite talks between Indonesian foreign minister Ali
Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama. The two-day
talks are being held in New York under the aegis of United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated into
Indonesia in 1976, a move still unrecognized by the UN. The aim
of the tripartite talks is to find an internationally acceptable
solution to the issue.

UN

Meanwhile in New York, Abilio Araujo, a leading Timorese
figure living in Portugal, reiterated his support for the
tripartite talks.

Araujo made the statement at Tuesday's session of the UN
Decolonization Committee.

Araujo, chairman of the Timor Foundation for Reconciliation
and Development, attended the session as a petitioner in support
of Indonesia's position. He was accompanied by six others from
Portugal and Australia who also served as petitioners.

Araujo maintained his rejection of Portugal's demands for a
referendum in East Timor.

Portuguese Ambassador Fernando Neves accused Indonesia at the
UN committee of illegally occupying East Timor.

"The outburst of violence that was witnessed during the recent
illegal elections imposed on the people of East Timor by the
Indonesian occupants shows that, as long as their right to self-
determination is not recognized, the East Timorese will not give
up their fight," Neves said.

A delegate from Indonesia, Marty Natalegawa, slammed Neves'
remarks, describing them as "unwarranted allegations and
misrepresentations."

"Today, it is astonishing that Portugal proclaims itself as
the so-called champion of self-determination and human rights
when its past record in this field ... is known to be the worst
in the annals of decolonization," Natalegawa told the committee.

He added that East Timor "opted for independence through
integration with Indonesia."