Downer hails RI's East Timor policy

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)