East Timor won't be fooled by Manila conference: Abilio
East Timor won't be fooled by Manila conference: Abilio
DILI, East Timor (JP): Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares said
yesterday he was sure the ongoing Manila conference would not
affect East Timorese's sense of being part of Indonesia.
"East Timorese have a strong commitment to holding on to
reality and won't let any propaganda trumpeted by those opposing
integration with Indonesia sweep them off their feet," he said in
an interview with The Jakarta Post.
Abilio said East Timor's integration into Indonesia in 1976 is
no longer an issue and anything related to the province is
strictly the country's domestic affairs.
Abilio praised Philippine President Fidel Ramos for banning
foreign participants from the four day private Asia Pacific
Conference on East Timor (APCET).
East Timorese people should not heed non-governmental
organizations and individuals in the conference who oppose the
integration, he said.
The governor, who has a broken leg from a recent accident in
Dili, ridiculed foreign NGOs' calls for international efforts to
liberate East Timor. "East Timor was liberated from the
Portuguese colonial administration in 1976. From whom else will
it be liberated?"
He challenged foreign observers to visit East Timor and see
what it has achieved after 18 years of integration with Indonesia
before they speak in a seminar.
"Anyone is free to visit East Timor," he said. He added he
recently hosted journalists from several countries to show the
international community that the youngest province is not closed,
as wrongly reported in numerous global media.
Commenting on reports that Timorese secession leader in exile
Jose Ramos Horta is seeking to meet with Foreign Minister Ali
Alatas, Abilio said he would support the initiative.
He condemned anti-integration Timorese in Portugal who pelted
Indonesia's ambassador at large FX Lopez da Cruz when he visited
Lisbon recently. "These East Timorese have no shame," he said.
In Jakarta, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on APCET
participants yesterday to maintain their objectivity in
discussing East Timor and to be careful about propaganda.
"The conference would be more worthwhile if it focuses on how
to develop East Timor which had been colonized and exploited for
centuries by Portugal," it said in a statement.
It said the province has enjoyed a much higher degree of
prosperity since it integrated with Indonesia.
The APCET has also received a strong reaction from the East
Timorese provincial legislative council.
Councilor Manuel Viegas Carrascalao said Dili would have been
a better venue for such a conference. "Then local people can
serve as resource with whom participants can cross check all
information they have concerning East Timor."
He criticized Jakarta for trying to pressure Manila into
preventing the gathering, saying the move is an obvious bid to
cover up what actually happens in the province. "Don't make it as
if East Timor is a closed territory," he said. (yac/pan)