East Timor dialog ends with nod to diverse views

East Timor dialog ends with nod to diverse views

DILI, East Timor (JP): A two-day meeting on reconciliation
between East Timor's political figures ended late on Friday with
a joint statement signed at the site of the dialog in Dare, West
Dili.

One of the 11 points in the communique signed at 9 p.m.
acknowledged the right to differences of opinion and that "there
should be no domination of one party over another."

The drafting of the 11-point communique got stuck for a few
hours on whether to insert "self-determination" as a separate
point. It was finally decided that the term was already included
in another point on "referendum and autonomy."

The talks which began on Thursday were initiated by Dili
Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio do
Nascimento and were attended by 50 local public figures.

The bishops said they had been asked by the local government
to initiate the dialog to defuse mounting tension between those
for and against integration with Indonesia in the province in
recent weeks.

Legislature speaker Armindo Soares Mariano, East Timor
Military chief Col. Tono Suratman, local police chief Col. Timbul
Silaen, Dili Mayor Mateus Maia and Dili regent Domingos Maria Das
Dores Soares were among the participants.

Another point in the communique said participants acknowledged
two views regarding East Timor -- those favoring an autonomous
status and those favoring a referendum on self-determination.

In view of this reality "further efforts were needed to
realize a common platform to unite the people of Timor Loro Sae,"
the local term for East Timor. A common platform should then be
followed up by "the establishment of a representative forum" for
all East Timorese, the communique said.

One suggestion was that similar meetings in the future should
involve representatives of all political and social groups,
including resistance leaders in jail, outside the country and in
the province's jungles. The Sept. 10 to Sept. 11 meeting did not
invite representatives from the above groups.

Another point was that all participants welcomed and supported
the role of the local Church in mediating in future dialogs and
that participants showed the political will to organize further
talks in the effort to find common ground between the divided
parties.

Organizers included Dili's Foundation for Law, Human Rights
and Justice (HAK) and representatives from Fretilin, the main
East Timorese separatist party, and the UDT, a minority political
party in the province.

People outside the packed meeting room clapped when the
communique was read out in Indonesian, Portuguese and English.

After the dialog ended, Belo told the press that participants
had been able to talk "without the slightest pressure and had
spoken from the depths of their hearts without being emotional."

Troops

Meanwhile the Armed Forces (ABRI), in a statement made
available to The Jakarta Post on Friday, denied allegations that
it had replaced combat troops withdrawn from the troubled
province in July.

A non-governmental organization, Solidamor (Solidarity for
Peace in East Timor), had earlier been quoted by Antara as saying
that the much publicized beginning of ABRI's withdrawal of up to
1,000 combat troops had been followed up with the drafting in of
replacements.

Solidamor also sent the press a paper written by the jailed
resistance leader Xanana Gusmao which it said was read out at a
recent seminar on East Timor held in New Zealand. Xanana said the
troop reinforcements had "landed at secret army jetties at
Viqueque, Com and Carabelo, near Vemasse."

ABRI's statement said "there are no additional troops in East
Timor", except for task forces including those for health and
"mental guidance."

The statement also denied allegations that ABRI had added
"wild troops" such as the Saka, Makikit and the Alpha teams.
These teams, ABRI said, were part of the local People's Militia
(Wanra), a civilian component of state defense and security. "It
is not true that the People's Militia are wild troops whose
activities serve to disrupt society."

ABRI's presence in East Timor, it said, was not as a result of
self-interest or to maintain East Timor as a training ground and
a stepping stone for career promotion, rather it was "based on
the fact that there are still armed rebels whose activities
disrupt public and state security and must therefore be
eradicated." (33/anr)