Habibie agrees to meet Howard over East Timor

Habibie agrees to meet Howard over East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie has agreed to meet
Australian Prime Minister John Howard next week in Bali to find
ways to end the spiraling violence in East Timor, it was reported
in Canberra on Monday.

The agreement was reached during a telephone conversation on
Monday morning.

"The fact that he (Habibie) has agreed to meet me indicates
that he understands our concern and that he sees it as something
that's very important," Reuters quoted Howard as saying.

Informed sources said Howard would arrive in Denpasar, Bali,
on the afternoon of April 26, and meet Habibie the next day.
Habibie will be accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
Alatas and Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto.

A letter from Howard in December reportedly played a
significant role in Habibie's decision to allow separation of
East Timor should its people reject Jakarta's offer of wide-
ranging autonomy.

In the letter, Howard informed him that Australia might shift
its recognition on Indonesia's sovereignty over the tiny
province.

Howard said on Monday he would be accompanied by foreign
minister Alexander Downer and defense minister John Moore.

"We believe the situation has deteriorated sharply. There has
been a very significant loss of life. They are distressing
developments," Howard said.

Police in East Timor believe at least 20 people were killed in
a clash on Saturday between those for and against independence,
but only 12 deaths have been confirmed.

Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus confirmed
Howard's statement. "PM Howard was briefed that the President had
urged the clashing factions to stop shooting at each other,"
Yunus said.

Downer on Monday called for the deployment of United Nations
peacekeeping forces in East Timor within a few weeks.

New Zealand's foreign minister Don McKinnon on Monday appealed
to the Indonesian government to use its military forces to "curb
and disarm" prointegration militia groups in East Timor.

"The New Zealand government condemns the violence that is
occurring, particularly the actions over the weekend by
antiindependence civilian militia, which resulted in further
Timorese deaths," McKinnon said as quoted by AFP.

"We expect the government of Indonesia to meets its commitment
to maintain peace and good order in East Timor and we also expect
the military forces to act to curb and disarm militia groups."

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called "for an immediate end
to this escalation of violence by all sides".

"The secretary-general strongly deplores these acts of
violence and regrets the apparent inability of the Indonesian
authorities to control the violence by the militias and to
protect the civilian population," his office said in a statement
released over the weekend.

Annan will mediate the negotiations between Alatas and his
Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama on the future of East Timor.
The talks are scheduled on Wednesday.

In Washington, the State Department said it was "deeply
disturbed" by reports that armed militia in East Timor had
attacked proindependence supporters and demanded Indonesia bring
the prointegration militia groups under control.

"The United States is deeply disturbed by reports that armed
militias... attacked civilians in Dili, the capital of East
Timor, causing the deaths of at least eight people," spokesman
James Rubin said over the weekend.

Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso offered to send
a military mission to East Timor under the UN command.

"Brazil is willing to send a military mission under the
command of the UN to defend the right of the people of Timor to
self-determination," Cardoso said in Lisbon during an official
visit to Portugal over the weekend. (prb)