Indonesia ups pressure on RP to ban talks on E. Timor

Indonesia ups pressure on RP to ban talks on E. Timor

JAKARTA (JP): The government and two youth organizations, in
separate actions, put further pressure on the Philippine
government yesterday to ban a controversial conference on East
Timor in Manila later this month.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Irawan Abidin said Indonesia may
revoke it's offer of sponsoring peace talks between the
Philippine government and the Moro Moslem rebel movement if the
East Timor conference took place, Antara reported.

The East Timor conference is scheduled to take place between
May 31 and June 3, 1994.

The Indonesian National Youth Committee (KNPI), the umbrella
group for dozens of youth organizations, sent a delegation to
present a petition to the Philippine government. The petition
contained a warning that, by allowing the conference, the
Philippine government could be jeopardizing the "solidarity" that
has been built over the years between the two neighbors.

The delegation of 30 was led by Chairman of KNPI, Tubagus
Haryono.

Meanwhile, the Muhammadiyah Youth said it would support the
plan to call for a Moro conference in Indonesia, bringing Moslem
leaders from all over the world, if Manila failed to stop the
East Timor conference.

The criticisms against the Philippine government came despite
appeals from members of the House of Representatives to simply
ignore the conference because it would simply create more
negative publicity for Indonesia.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas this week told an envoy
of Philippine President Fidel Ramos that Indonesia was
disappointed at Manila's inability to stop the "Asia-Pacific
Congress on East Timor" and pointed out that the meeting was
being used as a forum to attack Indonesia by people who oppose
East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

Ramos pointed out that the Philippine constitution does not
allow for the government to ban a congress organized by non-
governmental organizations. As a compromise, they promised to try
to minimize the impact of the East Timor conference.

Ramos on Monday sent former foreign secretary Raul Manglapus
to sooth Indonesia and reiterated the Philippine government's
relentless support of Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor.

But the Indonesian government was apparently not convinced
that the Philippine government had done its utmost.

Irawan told Antara yesterday that the Moro talks, which were
originally planned for next month, "will definitely be postponed"
if Indonesia did not get an appropriate response from Manila.

He stressed that his statement was not a threat.

"I'm quite sure that the Philippine Constitution must have
articles that allow the government to take certain actions in the
interest of the nation," he was quoted as saying.

The KNPI delegation yesterday also unfurled a huge poster
along the Philippine Embassy gate which said: "Stop the Asia-
Pacific Conference on East Timor or bilateral ties will be
affected."

In a statement signed by chairman Ali Taher Parasong, The
Muhammadiyah Youth condemned the Philippine government for
allowing the organizers of the conference to hold the meeting and
warned that such an action "amounted to an interference in the
domestic affairs of Indonesia."

Solidarity

He pointed out that Indonesia had always refrained from
meddling in the Philippine's affairs, in the spirit of the
solidarity among members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).

A number of industrialists affiliated with the local chapter
of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) in
Samarinda, East Kalimantan, canceled a planned investment program
involving billions of dollars in 15 different strategic sectors
in Davao, Philippines because of the East Timor Conference.

"National pride is more important than business interests,"
the head of the Samarinda Kadin office, Harbiyansah, was quoted
by the official Antara news agency as saying.

In Manila, an aide to Ramos said the president was looking for
ways to appease Indonesia over the row, AFP reported.

"They are still discussing options on how not to make it
difficult for everyone concerned, how to be fair to everyone
concerned," presidential press secretary, Jesus Sison, said.

The planned conference has also drawn sharp criticism from
parliamentarians and local NGOs who say Manila is neglecting the
spirit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
(emb)