Downer hails RI's East Timor policy

JAKARTA (JP): Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said here on Thursday that the positions of Indonesia and Australia on the future of East Timor were "very close."

Speaking to journalists after meeting with President B.J. Habibie at the Merdeka Palace, Downer said he was assured by the President that Indonesia would not abandon East Timor in an irresponsible way as Portugal had done in 1975.

"I was very heartened with the approach of the President. I think now that the positions of Australia and Indonesia on this issue are very close," Downer said.

During the one-hour meeting with Downer, Habibie was accompanied by Minister of Defense/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto. Secretary of Development Operations (Sesdalopbang) Lt. Gen. (ret) Sintong Panjaitan and the director general for political affairs at the foreign affairs ministry, Nugroho Wisnumurti.

This was Habibie's first meeting with a senior Australian minister since he received Australian Prime Minister John Howard's letter in December.

According to Habibie's aides, Howard's letter, in which he advised the President to take measures to resolve the East Timor problems, became a major factor behind his drastic decision to grant the territory separation under certain conditions.

The President has since January reiterated his plan to let East Timor go if the people and the international community reject his wide-ranging autonomy proposal for the tiny province.

Habibie, according to Downer, assured him Indonesia would not just walk out on East Timor. Instead, it would manage in a responsible manner a transition either to autonomy or to independence, taking into consideration the livelihood of the East Timorese people.

"He has thought very carefully about the steps ahead," Downer said of Habibie.

Downer, however, warned the East Timorese of a possible repetition of the "very sorry history" of the former Portuguese colony.

"What we very much hope is that the process of reconciliation among the East Timorese, coupled with their capacity to make their own decisions regarding their own destiny, will help to bind their wounds," Downer said.

Habibie reiterated his administration's stance that Australia would help the East Timorese whatever political choice they arrive at about their future.

"Pak Habibie did not express any expectations about Australia's role in East Timor. It is up to Australia if it wants to give assistance," Nugroho said.

Late Thursday afternoon Downer visited jailed East Timorese separatist leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao at his special detention house in Central Jakarta. The two held a 70-minute discussion.

"We had a very successful discussion, and I am certainly very impressed by the commitment of Xanana Gusmao to the first and most important process in East Timor, reconciliation," Downer said.

Later in the evening, Downer met with Amien Rais, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Meanwhile, AFP reported that two leaders of pro-Indonesian East Timorese militia groups on Thursday have sent a blunt warning to Australian diplomats and journalists that their lives were at risk.

"It is better to sacrifice an Australian diplomat or journalist to save the lives of 850,000 East Timorese," said the warning, faxed to several foreign news agencies including the AFP office here.

The one-page fax was signed by Cancio Lopes de Carvalho and Eurico Guterres, who identified themselves respectively as the pro-integration commanders of the Mahidi and Aitarak paramilitary groups. (prb/byg)