Gus Dur to order the release of 18 Timorese prisoners

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid said on Tuesday that he would order next week the release of 18 East Timorese political prisoners still in Indonesian jails.

He made the pledge at a meeting with East Timor independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, who received a red carpet welcome befitting a head of state, at Merdeka Palace.

Gus Dur, as the President is popularly called, said he would sign their release after his return from a four-day visit to China beginning on Wednesday.

The two leaders got off to a good start as the promise came hours after Xanana appealed, during a media briefing, for the release of East Timorese freedom fighters who, like himself, were jailed for fighting against Indonesian rule.

The man who is widely tipped to be East Timor's first president earlier returned to the Cipinang penitentiary, as a free man, to meet with his former fellow inmates. Xanana served time in Cipinang for leading an armed rebellion against Jakarta and was released in September after the East Timor self- determination ballot.

During a joint media conference, Gus Dur and Xanana said they had agreed to put the past behind them and to concentrate on building mutually beneficial relations between the two countries.

"We are committed to doing our best to create a cooperative, friendly and good relationship between the two countries," Xanana said, adding that he had also asked for assistance in repatriating 130,000 East Timorese refugees currently in camps in East Nusa Tenggara.

The two leaders held a private meeting before aides joined them. The President was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab, Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie and outgoing Army chief of staff Gen. Subagyo H.S. Xanana was flanked by Ramos Horta, Marie Alkatiri and his deputy military commander Taur Matan Ruak.

Xanana also met with Gen. Wiranto, the coordinating minister for political affairs and security and until last month the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander. Neither men talked to the press after their meeting.

Earlier, during a media conference at the Regent Hotel, Xanana said he had come back to forge close ties with a new Indonesia which valued democracy, human rights, justice and truth.

"Our presence here is to prove that the people of Timor Lorosae are ready, with the people of Indonesia, to create a new climate, a new future where they will have friendly and cooperative relations, with mutual respect and help.

"That's why we're here. We're not here to ask for retribution or for compensation. We're here to tell the Indonesian people that the two peoples can coexist, work hand in hand toward a brighter future," he said.

He described everything that happened in East Timor during Indonesia's 24-year occupation as a "historical mistake".

While offering an olive branch, Xanana underlined the need for TNI to denounce any links with pro-Indonesia militias, whom he said could cause instability from their bases in East Nusa Tenggara.

He warned that failure to control the militias would put a heavy burden on the Indonesian government and would harm Indonesia's international reputation.

"We have a message for the (Indonesian) generals. We did not destroy Indonesia's image. The East Timorese people have suffered a lot. Now, they are facing hunger and disease, they have no homes and their belongings have been looted or burned.

"We ask TNI, especially the Kopassus generals to stop giving support because it could become a source of embarrassment for the Indonesian people," he said. Kopassus is the Army's elite Special Force, blamed for much of the human rights abuses in East Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia.

When asked whether he was prepared to call off an ongoing UN inquiry into possible war crimes by TNI, Xanana said he did not have such an authority.

While welcoming Indonesians to come to East Timor and assist in the development of the country, he said ownership of many of the Indonesian assets would be settled through negotiations involving the United Nations.

"After all that has happened, after all the suffering that the East Timorese have endured, it would appear strange that Indonesia should want to calculate and repossess those assets.

"But that's my personal view," he said.

Xanana said he would propose the establishment of an East Timor representative office in Jakarta.

It would not have to be called an office of the CNRT," he said of his Revolutionary Council for an Independent East Timor.

The Indonesian Military said a CNRT office would not be acceptable since the group did not represent all the East Timorese people. President Abdurrahman however has overruled the objection and said that the decision was his to make.

Xanana explained about reconciliatory measures being taken to try to bring all East Timorese together to rebuild their country.

He had met with senior pro-Indonesia East Timorese politicians to discuss the plan to establish a national council "involving representatives of CNRT, 'them' and the church."

The United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) has agreed that no decision would be made without the consent of the council, he added. (emb/emf/prb)