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)