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)