East Timorese leaders, UN staff to meet Megawati
East Timorese leaders, UN staff to meet Megawati
DILI, East Timor (Agencies): East Timorese leaders and UN administrators will meet next week with Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who in the past has refused to talk with representatives of the fledgling nation, a top official said Thursday.
East Timor's UN governor Sergio Vieira de Mello said Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda had invited officials of the world body and political leaders from East Timor for talks in Jakarta next Thursday.
The delegation, comprising de Mello, independence leader Xanana Gusmao, de facto foreign minister Jose Ramos Horta, and Mari Alkatiri, who heads the country's dominant political party, will meet Megawati and other Indonesian government officials.
"I welcome this invitation and believe we can now launch the high-level consultations that have been stalled for some time," said de Mello. "This augurs very well for the future relations between (East Timor) and the new government in Jakarta," de Mello said.
Megawati, a staunch nationalist who previously supported East Timor's occupation and annexation by Indonesia, recently recognized the territory's right to secede.
Pro-Indonesian militias with the support of Indonesian troops launched a campaign of murder, looting and destruction after East Timor's people voted for independence in a UN-supervised referendum in 1999.
Megawati's predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid, maintained close contacts with Gusmao and Horta and visited the region last year. But his vice president, Megawati, refused to meet with them or with the UN representatives governing the nation during its transition to independence.
UN officials said she had refused to meet them six times during her 21-month tenure as Wahid's deputy. She assumed the top office after Indonesia's top legislative body impeached Wahid in July.
The announcement of the visit came on the day that the results in East Timor's first democratic election were announced. Alkatiri's Fretilin party, which led the 24-year struggle against Indonesian rule, won 55 out of 88 seats in the new assembly.
It also coincided with the anniversary of the murders last year of three UN staffers in Indonesian West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara) by East Timorese paramilitaries.
Meanwhile, Japan may send troops to East Timor to join UN peacekeeping operations, with the country's defense chief due to discuss the matter with Jakarta next week, a defense spokesman said Thursday in Tokyo.
"We are considering dispatching our troops to East Timor to take part in peacekeeping operations," the defense agency spokesman said without elaborating.
Between 300 and 400 Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers would go to East Timor early next year, the Asahi newspaper said, quoting government sources.
If realized, it would be Japan's first large-scale deployment of SDF troops on an overseas peacekeeping operation since Tokyo sent 1,200 soldiers to Cambodia in 1992 and 1993.
Japanese troops in East Timor would mainly be engaged in road construction, the daily said.
It was unlikely they would join the main UN peacekeeping force on the island, which is involved in patrolling the area and demobilizing guerrilla forces.
Japanese law bans its troops from joining UN peacekeeping operations in areas where a cease-fire agreement is not in place.
Gen. Nakatani, director-general of the Defense Agency, plans to visit Indonesia to discuss the issue ahead of a planned visit to East Timor, the spokesman said.
"He will discuss the issue with Indonesian officials when he visits Indonesia next week," the spokesman said. "Nakatani has said Japan actively wants to support peace in East Timor."
Nakatani is due to visit Indonesia on Monday and hold talks with Indonesia's President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the Asahi said.
He would then make a three-day visit to East Timor from Wednesday to meet with Sergio de Mello, special representative of the UN secretary-general and in charge of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor, it said.