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."