E. Timor's cultural identity

E. Timor's cultural identity

The seventh round of the tripartite dialog (between Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations) on East Timor was just concluded. The last of the meetings, which have been held since 1983, took place in London on Tuesday.

As in earlier meetings, Foreign Minister Ali Alatas represented Indonesia while Portugal was represented by Jaime Gama, the new foreign minister who replaced Jose Manuel Durao Barosso. Present as mediator was UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Gama at one point during the talks said the latest meeting had not reached any "immediate settlement" regarding the existing differences on East Timor. However, he said, many topics were discussed, ranging from human rights to the cultural identity of the East Timorese people.

It was evident during the dialog that culture is a strategic aspect of the discussions. We, too, are fully aware of the fact that apart from the political aspect -- which has so far been dominated by international concern with East Timor -- cultural concerns cannot be separated from the efforts to settle the problems of the youngest Indonesian province once and for all.

-- Republika, Jakarta