E. Timor not on ASEM agenda: Alatas

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas maintained yesterday that East Timor would not be discussed at next month's Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) because it was considered an extraneous issue and irrelevant to the core topic of the summit.

Alatas said ASEM leaders had agreed since their first summit in Bangkok in 1996 to exclude the issue from the meeting's agenda since there was a separate forum to discuss East Timor.

"I think it's impossible for the issue to be raised in the summit because it is regarded as an irrelevant issue. This has been known by all parties, including the host," Alatas said after discussing preparations for the summit with Vice President B.J. Habibie at Merdeka Selatan Palace.

Habibie, on behalf of President Soeharto, will attend the two- day summit in London starting April 3.

East Timor was integrated as Indonesia's 27th province in 1976. The United Nations still regards Lisbon as the administrative power in this former Portuguese colony.

Indonesia and Portugal have held several tripartite meetings under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General to find an internationally recognized solution to the issue, but so far the talks have failed to yield significant progress.

ASEM brings together leaders from Asian countries -- Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, Japan, China and South Korea -- along with 15 European counterparts who are members of the European Union.

The Asian monetary crisis is expected to be high on the agenda.

During the Bangkok summit, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres approached President Soeharto after a banquet held by the host and held a brief impromptu talk about East Timor.

Guterres claimed he had made a diplomatic gesture to Soeharto by offering to open up offices in each other's capitals in return for the release of jailed Timorese separatist leader Xanana Gusmao.

The Indonesian government later claimed that this was simply a new twist on an old proposal which Portugal itself had initially rejected, but this time accompanied by the conditionality of Gusmao's release.

"It is possible," Alatas said when asked if Guterres might unexpectedly approach Habibie during the meeting in London and ask to discuss the issue.

Habibie will leave Jakarta tomorrow and pay a one-day working visit to Kuala Lumpur.

He will then visit Italy Monday and meet with Prime Minister Romano Prodi. (prb)