E. Timor boatpeople a media ploy

E. Timor boatpeople a media ploy

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has rebuffed Tuesday's landing of 18 East Timorese boat people in Australia as a media ploy designed to embarrass Jakarta.

The foreign ministry's director of information, Irawan Abidin, said it shouldn't be surprising that the landing occurred just before Friday's All Inclusive East Timor Dialog in Austria.

"Every time an event that is important to Indonesia is about to take place, some activity that is designed to attract international attention and embarrass Indonesia is cleverly staged by the country's detractors," he said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post yesterday evening.

Irawan noted that while activists claim the boat people are victims of Indonesian torture, Australian authorities have found them to be in pretty good health.

He commended the Australian authorities' treatment of them as arrivals without the necessary legal documents and asserted Jakarta's commitment to continue the vigorous development of East Timor.(mds)