East Timorese talks to be held in June

East Timorese talks to be held in June

UNITED NATIONS (AFP): Reconciliation talks between pro- and anti-Indonesian East Timorese will be held in Austria next June 2-5, the United Nations announced on Tuesday.

Thirty East Timorese "of various political views" from within and outside East Timor are being invited to attend the All- Inclusive Intra-East-Timorese dialog, according to a statement by the secretary general's spokesman.

The talks had been envisioned in a Geneva communique issued at the end of the fifth round of UN-sponsored talks between Indonesia and Portugal Jan. 9.

Initially they had been scheduled April 24-26 in Salzburg, Austria. But Indonesia and its supporters had protested against the manner in which UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali had organized the meeting without first consulting them.

Boutros-Ghali proposed in early March to postpone the talks and add three invitations to Indonesia supporters.

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as part of Indonesia in 1976.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has stressed that the Jan. 9 agreement did not provide for the meeting to deal with East Timor's political status in order to avoid hampering discussions between Indonesia and Portugal.

The sixth round of ministerial talks between Indonesia and Portugal has been scheduled in Geneva July 8, according to the UN statement.