E. Timor not on ASEM agenda: Alatas
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)