Dialog with East Timorese

President Soeharto made a sympathetic gesture last week when he expressed his readiness to hold a dialog with an anti- integration group of East Timor.

The offer of a dialog will be a substantive contribution to the solution of the issue. The Indonesian government has reiterated that the East Timor issue is a non-issue any longer, de facto and de jure. But it is also true that several anti- integration groups are still continuing their campaigns.

Their voices, however, have been diminishing lately because the international community is becoming more objective in judging the issue. Nevertheless, a dialog with an anti-integration group is a boost.

The dialog will prove that Indonesia is serious in resolving the issue together with opposing groups. Secondly, there are still many East Timorese in diaspora who are ignorant about the real situation in the province.

Indonesia's stance in the dialog is clear. That is Indonesia will not address the question of the existence of East Timor within Indonesia but to narrow the perception gap of the integration. The dialog can also be focused on what steps to be taken in the future development of the province.

The dialog will be held with more than one anti-integration group and also include pro-integration groups so that it will embrace every one who has a stake in the issue.

-- Republika, Jakarta