E. Timor proposals' deadline missed
E. Timor proposals' deadline missed
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters): Portugal and Indonesia missed their
self-imposed deadline for reaching agreement on autonomy for the
disputed territory of East Timor by the end of this year when
they ended a new round of talks on Friday.
UN negotiator Jamsheed Marker said talks would resume from
February 1-5. In the interim, he plans to visit East Timor on
Dec. 16 to consult with all groups.
He said his assistants would travel to the territory in
advance to explain the proposals to the local population. He said
he had met during the week with "various representatives of the
East Timorese resistance" to keep them informed.
"I am not disappointed at all," said Marker, a Pakistani
diplomat, in answer to queries about the autonomy deadline.
"In fact I suspected something like this would happen. I want
to keep up the process of negotiations," he said.
"I think we have gone a long way towards the autonomy process.
These are very complicated and difficult matters. We have
presented very elaborate autonomy proposals to both the
governments," Marker told reporters.
The autonomy proposals have to be agreed on before a final
status for the territory is decided. Indonesia's incorporation of
the former Portuguese colony in 1976 is not recognized by the
international community and the United Nations has long been
trying to broker an acceptable solution.
In August, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and his
Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama, hoped they could reach an
agreement on the territory's ""special status, based on a wide-
ranging autonomy" by the end of the year.
The two sides had also agreed to establish interests sections
in friendly embassies in each other's capitals by the end of 1998
and to relax their visa policies.
Marker announced the final text of the agreement to establish
interests sections had been completed this week.
Indonesia will establish its section in the Thai embassy in
Lisbon and Portugal's section in Jakarta will be in the
Netherlands embassy. It will be headed by Ana Martins Gomes,
currently a senior diplomat in Portugal's UN mission.
This round of talks, conducted by Nugroho Wisnumurti of
Indonesia and Fernando Nevis of Portugal, was halted on Nov. 20
at Lisbon's request following reports of a fresh wave of killings
in the East Timor village of Alas, east of Dili, the capital.
Indonesia has denied the reports and officials of the
International Committee for the Red Cross have also said they had
not received any reports of massacres.
"At the round of talks just concluded, the various areas of
autonomy were extensively discussed and the two sides not have a
better understanding of each other's positions on specific
issues," Marker said.