Measures mulled for after Aug. 30

Measures mulled for after Aug. 30

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas met with
visiting United Nations (UN) special envoy Jamsheed Marker on
Wednesday to discuss the period after the direct ballot in East
Timor, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described as
delicate.

Briefing journalists after the meeting, which he described as
"preliminary discussions," Marker said they discussed the details
of what measures should be taken during the period between the
direct vote on Aug. 30 and Indonesia's decision to reject or
accept the results of the vote in November.

"After the ballot, the situation will be very important, that
is why we are discussing the details of what measures need to be
taken," said Marker.

During the meeting, Marker was accompanied by the United
Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) chief Ian Martin.

Marker will also attend the two-day tripartite talks beginning
Thursday between Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General
for Political Affairs Nugroho Wisnumurti and his Portuguese
counterpart, Fernando Neves. According to TV reports, Portuguese
foreign minister Jaime Gama is also expected to attend the
meeting.

Meanwhile, Annan proposed to the UN Security Council on
Tuesday to double the UN military liaison officers and unarmed
police contingents in East Timor to 710, including 410 police,
soon after the referendum.

The UN also needed to "reassure all groups, in particular
those who were in the minority in the ballot, that they have a
role to play in the future political life of East Timor," AFP
quoted Annan as saying.

Annan also recommended a three-month extension of UNAMET when
its current mandate expires in September.

Separately, representatives of the two warring rivals in East
Timor met in Jakarta. Jailed independence fighter Jose Alexandre
"Xanana" Gusmao led the proindependence delegation, while the
prointegration group was led by ambassador at large Lopez da
Cruz.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman James Rubin
categorically denied an Australian newspaper report that the
country planned to unilaterally send 15,000 troops to the
territory.

The Carter Center, led by U.S. former president Jimmy Carter,
meanwhile urged President B.J. Habibie to cease Indonesian
Military and police support for armed militias.

"Both the military and police are actively campaigning for
integration of East Timor into Indonesia," the center said in a
statement issued in Dili.

In Fatuahi Hill, East Dili, a provincial police spokesman said
a group of proindependence militia ambushed their rivals who just
attended a meeting with opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri
on Tuesday.

Spokesman Capt. Widodo said he still could not say whether the
clash claimed any victims or not, and said the police were still
not able to approach the place due to high tension there.

From Dili, AFP reported that prointegration militia twice
attacked a student poll information center in the town of
Viqueque, abducting two students and shooting at least two others
dead. (33/prb)