Indonesia asks Colombia for help on E. Timor issue
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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