Hendropriyono surveys East Timor: Horta

Hendropriyono surveys East Timor: Horta

Agence France-Presse, Dili, East Timor

Indonesia's intelligence chief flew into East Timor for talks with top officials here at the weekend to determine whether it is safe for President Megawati Soekarnoputri to attend the former Indonesian province's independence celebrations on May 19-20.

Lt. Gen. (ret), A.M. Hendropriyono, met the UN chief administrator in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta and Dili's Bishop Felipe Carlos Ximenes Belo on Saturday during a 24-hour visit.

"His visit to East Timor had to do with a security risk assessment to enable the president to make a final decision," Ramos Horta told AFP.

The East Timorese leadership is eager for Megawati to join a host of world leaders at its independence declaration ceremony on next Sunday night.

President-elect Xanana Gusmao traveled to Jakarta to personally invite her to the landmark event, reinforcing an earlier invitation from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

But Megawati, who is facing fierce parliamentary opposition to her presence at the independence party, has still not given an official reply.

Hendropriyono was followed by a team of presidential security and protocol officers, Ramos Horta said.

On Sunday the team was surveying the seafront capital Dili, where charred shells of buildings still bear testimony to the Indonesian army-backed militia rampage that followed East Timor's vote for independence.

"They will then go back and the president will make a final decision," said Ramos Horta, who also chairs the independence celebration committee.

"But I believe they have found among us absolute cooperation at every level to ensure not only the security of President Megawati Soekarnoputri, if she decides to come, but of every single invitee of every country."

Ramos Horta said there was no ill-feeling towards Megawati for the 1999 violence.

"I do not expect anti-Indonesian demonstrations, quite the contrary," he said.

"Our people understand how important is the visit of President Megawati and they also know how much effort she has made to normalize relations with East Timor, and we're all very impressed with the leadership and statesmanship she has shown so far."

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, and the president and prime minister of former colonial ruler Portugal are among leaders of delegations from 80 nations who will attend the massive two-day independence ceremonies.