Govt awaits Belo's public explanation

Govt awaits Belo's public explanation

JAKARTA (JP): The government says it still wants to hear a
public explanation from East Timor Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes
Belo about his remarks in the German press, although he has
reportedly renounced his remarks at a meeting with officials.

"The truth about Belo's remarks can only be determined after
his public explanation on Monday," Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Soesilo Soedarman announced at his
office yesterday.

Belo, who shares this year's Nobel Peace Prize with East Timor
separatist movement leader Ramos Horta, was quoted in the Oct. 14
edition of Der Spiegel magazine as saying Indonesian troops had
treated East Timorese people like "scabby dogs" and "slaves."

The articles angered the military and provoked protests in
Jakarta condemning the bishop. These in turn prompted massive
counter protests in Dili supporting the bishop and denouncing the
treatment he received during his visit in Jakarta last week.

Soesilo said Belo's public explanation will be cross-checked
against all the information obtained by the government.

"If Belo claims the remarks were not true, then this becomes a
problem between him and the German magazine," he said after the
swearing in of medium-ranked officials in his office.

Information

He said he has received information about the Belo interview
from three different sources.

The first source was the Indonesian embassy in Germany.

The second was a copy of minutes of a meeting between Belo and
top government and military officials in East Timor on Monday.

And the third was a copy of an interview between the
Indonesian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China and
Juergen Kremb, the German reporter who wrote the article.

Soesilo declined to disclose details of the information he has
received.

But East Timor Police Chief Col. Yusuf Muharam said Tuesday
that Belo has signed a statement renouncing the articles and has
said he never made the statements printed in the magazine.

Belo, a native East Timorese, has neither publicly confirmed
nor denied making the remarks, but has promised to explain the
matter at a news conference in Dili on Nov. 25.

The East Timor Diocese in Dili yesterday criticized the police
chief for going public with the minutes of the meeting with Belo.

The diocese's secretary, Dominggus Sequeira, said the meeting
was confidential and its content should not have been made
public, especially since the bishop had called a news conference
to explain the issue on Monday.

Confusion still surrounds the nature of the interview, with
some saying it happened five years ago, while some say it took
place last month.

Col. Yusuf said Tuesday that Belo said he recalled giving a
telephone interview to a reporter from Der Spiegel, a woman, five
years ago. But what appeared in the article was different from
the actual interview. According to Yusuf, Belo said, "the article
did not portray the context of the interview at that time".

Yusuf concluded that the bishop's remarks were twisted by the
foreign reporter who does not like the Indonesian government.

Meanwhile, Armed Forces Chief for Sociopolitical Affairs Lt.
Gen. Syarwan Hamid said in Ponorogo, East Java, yesterday that
Belo ought to sue Der Spiegel if the article published in the
magazine was not true, Antara reported.

"Belo should sue the German magazine if he feels the article
is slanderous to the Indonesian government," Syarwan said.

Syarwan called on the people not to hastily pass judgment
against the bishop until he explains the situation to the public.
(imn/33)