Indonesia's assets in East Timor left in limbo

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The status of the country's assets in East Timor remains uncertain after negotiations here with representatives of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) only agreed on the classification of assets in the former province.

The special assistant to the Indonesian foreign minister, Abdurrachman Mattaliti, acknowledged the second round of negotiations did not produce concrete agreements.

He remained optimistic, saying it was part of a long journey to reach an agreement because the problem was complex.

"We have agreed in general that the problem concerning Indonesian assets in East Timor will be solved and discussed together between us," Abdurrachman told The Jakarta Post on Thursday after the two-day session.

The two sides agreed the assets would be categorized in four groups: government assets, state-owned companies' assets, private companies' assets and individual assets.

"We also proposed to send a small team to observe and collect data on the four categories of Indonesian assets in East Timor," Abdurrachman added.

On the issue of Indonesian archival data and other items of cultural heritage, Abdurrachman said UNTAET pledged to help collect data.

The two parties are slated for another round of discussions in June, with the next meeting expected to focus on studying UNTAET's proposal for the establishment of a joint border committee.

East Timor, integrated into Indonesia in 1975, seceded last year after a self-determination referendum.

The first round of negotiations was conducted in Denpasar, Bali, in March.

The earlier session discussed issues such as the geographical border with East Nusa Tenggara, former Indonesian civil servant pensions and the status of East Timorese students in Indonesia.

However, no definitive solutions were reached at the Denpasar meeting. (44/dja)