Indonesia pushes for new pacific forum
Indonesia pushes for new pacific forum
CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (Reuters): Indonesia on Wednesday
invited New Zealand to join a new regional forum that Jakarta is
promoting and which would include its former territory East
Timor.
On the first visit to New Zealand by an Indonesian leader in
29 years, President Abdurrahman Wahid said the proposed West
Pacific forum could help soothe tensions between Jakarta and East
Timor, which voted for independence from Indonesia in 1999.
Pro-Indonesian militia went on the rampage after the vote,
killing more than 1,000 people, and East Timor is now run by the
United Nations as it prepares for independence next year.
The West Pacific dialogue group, in addition to Indonesia,
East Timor and New Zealand, would include Australia, the
Philippines, Brunei and Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said it could be a good
place to air other regional concerns, such as Irian Jaya, where
Indonesian forces are fighting secessionist rebels.
"We've indicated today that we would like to be part of such a
dialogue," she told reporters after a one-hour meeting with Wahid
in Christchurch.
"It could also be a forum where we share ideas on how to deal
with some of the issues arising in the most eastern part of
Indonesia, Irian Jaya, where there has been some considerable
violence and where we would like to see a peaceful resolution."
Wahid also pushed the idea of a West Pacific forum as he
passed through Australia before heading to New Zealand.
Commentators said the group could serve as a counterbalance to
the South Pacific Forum, which does not include Indonesia. Many
South Pacific Forum members sympathise with the secessionist
movement in Irian Jaya, which is part of Melanesia.
Earlier on Wednesday, Wahid arrived in Christchurch in
torrential, freezing rain after saying in Australia he would call
a state of emergency if foes seeking his impeachment kept on
badgering him.
The frail 60-year-old Muslim cleric was given a traditional
welcome by Maoris on New Zealand's South Island before holding a
one hour meeting with Clark.
Just as Australia had done, Clark pressed Wahid to ensure army
officers and militia leaders are punished for atrocities
committed in East Timor two years ago.
She also raised the death of Private Leonard Manning, killed
and mutilated on patrol near the West Timor border last July, and
the first New Zealand soldier to die in action in about 30 years.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Alwi Shihab said that
Indonesia was trying it best to find and sentence the killers.
"Rest assured there is a commitment to bring to justice the
perpetrators," Shihab said.
Wahid flies to Darwin in Australia's tropical north on
Thursday, and then on Friday to Manila.