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)