Gusmao ends two-day state visit to Jakarta

Gusmao ends two-day state visit to Jakarta

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja and Bernie K. Moestafa , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Visiting East Timor President Xanana Gusmao wrapped up his two- day state visit to Indonesia by paying tribute at the Kalibata National Heroes cemetery in East Jakarta on Wednesday.

Gusmao was accompanied by Indonesian State Minister for Acceleration of Eastern Indonesia Development Manuel Kaisiepo during a wreath-laying ceremony.

Later in the day, the president flew back to Bali and would spend the night on the island with his family before heading back to Dili on Thursday.

Unlike previously stated, Gusmao would not be the key-note speaker at an economic seminar at Makassar in South Sulawesi on Thursday.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry Spokesman Marty Natalegawa said on Wednesday that the government had explored the possibility for Xanana to attend the event, but the latest decision was that the visiting president would not attend the seminar.

"It is not like he cut short the trip because the latest schedule that we arranged did not include the visit to Makassar," Marty told The Jakarta Post.

Gusmao, who spent seven years in an Indonesian jail, and his 27-member entourage, arrived on Monday and met President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday.

Indonesia was his second state visit as president of the new country that declared independence on May 20 this year, after separating from Indonesia in 1999. His first official overseas trip was to Australia in late May.

Meanwhile, veterans of the 1975 invasion of East Timor expressed their disappointment with Gusmao's visit.

Sgt. Maj. (ret) Soekoro, who chairs a veterans' association in Jakarta, said Indonesia should have waited before establishing diplomatic ties with East Timor.

"East Timor's independence is a fact we can't avoid, but we should have taken more time before accepting it," he said.

He said the East Timor government must first ensure that prointegration East Timorese were being treated fairly, and that they could return without fear of harassment.

Around 20,000 East Timorese still live in refugee camps in the neighboring East Nusa Tenggara province, three years after East Timor broke away from Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian government, Soekoro said, should pay compensation to the veterans. "Most of us are disabled, we can't work so we need help. Nothing fancy just something to get us by.

"We're soldiers, we know the risk and we accept it, but we want to know how the government views us, are we war heroes or war criminals?" he asked.

Some 3,000 Indonesian soldiers died in the 1975 military campaign, many others were left disabled.