Indonesia asks Colombia for help on E. Timor issue
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia asked Colombia yesterday to persuade other Latin American countries to remove East Timor from the agenda of the IBOR-American conference in Chile next month.
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said Indonesia's objection to discussions about East Timor was raised by President Soeharto in his meeting with visiting Colombian President Ernesto Samper.
"There are strong indications that Portugal will raise issue of East Timor in the forum," Moerdiono said.
The IBOR-American conference brings together Spanish and Portuguese speaking nations.
Portugal was the colonial administrator of East Timor until the territory joined Indonesia in 1976, following a bloody civil war triggered by the abrupt withdrawal of the Portuguese in 1975.
The UN still recognizes Portugal as administrator of East Timor.
Lisbon has been pressing for a United Nations-sponsored referendum on the future of East Timor to be held in the territory, while Jakarta insists the territory's integration into Indonesia is "final and no problem".
Moerdiono said President Soeharto told Samper that Indonesia and Portugal already have appropriate forums for discussions on the East Timor issue.
"Colombia agreed to seriously consider Indonesia's appeal," Moerdiono said after the two-hour meeting of the two presidents.
Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers have held meetings under the auspices of the UN but there has been no resolution to the dispute.
Moerdiono said that Portugal means to use the IBOR-American forum to seek support for its stand the East Timor issue.
The upcoming conference in Singapore of trade ministers from World Trade Organization member countries in December was also a focus of the Soeharto-Samper talks.
Indonesia, Moerdiono said, reiterated its rejection of the industrialized countries' plan to link international trade agreements with non-trade issues, such as human rights, labor and environment.
"There is every indication that industrialized countries will bring the issue to the WTO meeting in Singapore," Moerdiono said.
According to Moerdiono, the Colombian President shared Indonesia's view.
Colombia and Indonesia agreed to boost trade and economic ties. Their two-way trade is estimated at only US$20 million a year.
"Indonesia enjoys the surplus but the trade base is very weak," Moerdiono said.
The two governments agreed to encourage their businesses to invest in each other's country. Indonesia will consider importing leather and selling helicopters to Colombia.
Presidents Samper and Soeharto had comprehensive talks on strategies for developing the 118-member Non-Aligned Movement. Samper replaced Soeharto as the movement's chairman earlier this year.
The movement, which groups poor and developing countries, intends to boost its relations with the Group of 7 industrialized nations (G-7) currently headed by France.
Samper met with G-7 leaders in France last August in which they agreed to hold a series of ministerial meetings in New York, Moerdiono said.
Colombian Foreign Minister Maria Emma Mejia and Indonesian counterpart Ali Alatas are scheduled to meet G-7 leaders in Paris to discuss developing countries' debt, he said.
President Samper left Jakarta for Seoul yesterday. (pan)
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