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)