Emergency call for East Timor rejected

JAKARTA (JP): A plenary Cabinet meeting turned down on Monday the proposal of Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen. Wiranto to declare a state of emergency in East Timor, Minister of Information Muhammad Yunus said.

In a media briefing which followed the meeting on East Timor, Yunus confirmed that Wiranto proposed to put the strife-torn territory under military emergency status to allow it to take necessary measures to end rampant violence.

He said the Cabinet warned the plan would contravene the May 5 agreement between Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations which ruled the Indonesian police were in charge of maintaining public order and security before and during the self- determination process.

"It (the proposal) was discussed but it contained many implications, because... actually there is an agreement that TNI personnel should be withdrawn (from East Timor)," Yunus said.

Speaking before the meeting at Bina Graha presidential office, Wiranto, who is also minister of defense and security, said he would recommend the Cabinet consider the emergency status to empower the military in its effort to restore calm in the territory.

"I will submit a proposal to authorize the security forces to act without any hesitation and establish legal certainty," he said.

He said declaring a state of emergency was important in restoring security before entering "phase three", in which the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) would decide on endorsing East Timor's separation from Indonesia.

Wiranto also disclosed his plan to send six battalions of Army reinforcements, with three battalions already having arrived in East Timor. A battalion consists of between 700 and 1,000 troops.

"In the short term, we will bring in more forces. Then we are going to evaluate the status of this area, whether it will continue to be under civilian order or whether there is a need for stricter authority to take action against anyone bearing arms and shooting people at will."

National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi, who also attended the meeting, acknowledged the situation in East Timor was out of control and the difficulty in restoring order. He said police needed the presence of more military troops.

"Even the local government no longer functions. The only thing we can hope for is that everyone will exercise restraint."

Reports say that desperate pro-Jakarta militiamen backed by troops are rioting and attacking thousands of refugees.

Roesmanhadi said no less than 16,000 people were sheltered at the provincial police headquarters. He added that police planned to transport the people to refugee centers on the territory's border with East Nusa Tenggara.

"The latest developments are not calm. It is still out of control," Roesmanhadi said.

Habibie has been widely criticized since Saturday for his decision last year to hold the Aug. 30 ballot. The United Nations announced on Saturday morning an overwhelming 78 percent vote in favor of independence.

Responsibility

Before the Cabinet meeting, the President met with leaders of the House of Representatives to explain the vote's outcome, its implications and the violent aftermath.

"I take full responsibility for whatever happens in East Timor," he later told a brief joint media briefing with House Speaker Harmoko.

He said the MPR would still have to approve the separation when it convened in November. Until then, East Timor remained under Indonesia's jurisdiction and was therefore the responsibility of his government, he added.

Habibie disclosed that earlier in the day he held a lengthy phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the situation in East Timor.

Harmoko neither endorsed nor rejected Habibie's moves on East Timor, saying that they both agreed in the meeting that the President would account for his actions before the MPR.

East Timor's "integration" with Indonesia in 1976 was endorsed by the MPR through a 1978 decree.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas also said the agreement with the United Nations required that East Timor's separation first be endorsed by the MPR.

"It is not the government who decides. It (the separation) must be confirmed first by the MPR," he said after accompanying Habibie at the meeting.

Results of the vote did not automatically mean independence for East Timor, he said. "Indonesia never promised, nor is it in any position to promise, independence. That's neither our authority nor our obligation."

The MPR could theoretically reject the President's decision on East Timor, he added.

"It could happen," he said. However, he added that he expected the MPR to endorse the government's decision on East Timor since the ballot was organized by the United Nations and observed by the international community.

On the fate of East Timorese who fought and voted for integration, Alatas pledged the government would not abandon them.

He said the government would accommodate them if they wished to keep Indonesian citizenship. If they wished to become East Timorese, the government would ensure their safety, with the help of the United Nations, he said.

"It never crossed our minds that we would leave behind the 90,000 or so East Timorese who supported integration. We're not like the Portuguese," he said, alluding to the Portuguese colonial administration's departure from East Timor in 1975 and the bloody civil war which ensued.

Jakarta-appointed East Timor Governor Jose Abilio Soares reiterated his rejection of the vote results on Monday, claiming that it was engineered by the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) and the proindependence forces, Antara reported.

He said it provoked anger among East Timorese who expressed their outrage through violence.

He stressed that East Timor remained under Indonesian rule until the result was accepted by the MPR.

Meanwhile, the Australian and American embassies were the targets of demonstrations over East Timor on Monday.

Some 200 people from two separate groups -- the Jakarta Communication Forum and the People's Front of Red and White Defenders -- converged outside the Australian embassy on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta, to protest the burning of the Indonesian flag outside the Indonesian consulate in Melbourne last week. They demanded that Canberra apologize for the incident.

About 50 people demonstrated outside the U.S. embassy on Jl. Merdeka Selatan, blaming the U.S. government for the violence in East Timor. (prb/05/emb)