Military defends ban on visits to E. Timor

Military defends ban on visits to E. Timor

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security Gen. (ret.) Edi
Sudradjat defended yesterday the immigration authority's decision
on Thursday to bar foreigners from visiting East Timor.

Edi denied however that the order had come from his office or
the Armed Forces office.

A number of "foreign dignitaries" were barred from flying to
Dili, capital of East Timor, on Thursday, while seven others, who
were already in Dili, were asked to leave the province.

Among the foreigners ordered to leave Dili were Daniel Botha,
a Namibian parliamentarian, Americans Reed Brody and Brian Brown,
Australian Aboriginal poet Lionel Fogerty, and Filipinos Maria
Suplido and Myrna de Arceo.

These foreigners were believed to be planning to join a
ceremony to mark the fourth anniversary of an incident in which
East Timor protesters clashed with Indonesian troops. The Nov.
12, 1991, incident left 50 dead, according to an official
investigation.

Edi condemned the foreigners' motives in visiting East Timor.
"It means that they are interfering in another country's domestic
affairs," Edi said, adding, "We can't tolerate anyone who
undermines our integrity and stability," Antara reported.

Rahardi Suroprawiro, director for supervision and operation at
the Directorate General of Immigration, said that, given the
situation in East Timor, the decision to bar foreigners from
visiting East Timor was taken in the interest of the foreigners'
safety.

The military authority in East Timor has also defended the
policy to momentarily close East Timor to foreign visitors, whose
presence there could create trouble.

Maj. Gen. A. Rivai, chief of the Udayana Command, said in
Denpasar, Bali, that as a sovereign state, Indonesia has the
right to take measures it deems necessary to maintain stability.

"If we had let them in, it is possible that their own safety
could be endangered because they could become the target of
people's anger. So, the measure was taken in the interest of
their own protection," Rivai said, Antara reported.

In another development in East Timor, Governor Abilio Jose
Osorio Soares said on Thursday that he would review a decree
concerning the establishment of houses of worship he issued last
July, which has been widely criticized by Moslem leaders in
Jakarta as "discriminatory".

Abilio was quoted by the Jawa Pos daily as saying that he
would not "revoke" the decree, as ordered by Minister of Home
Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M., but only "review" it.

The decree requires non-Catholics to obtain permission from
the local Catholic parish priest before they can build, or
repair, their houses of worship.

The minority Moslem community in East Timor have complained
that the decree has prevented them from repairing the mosques,
orphanages and schools that were damaged during last September's
racial riot in Dili and other cities in East Timor. (imn)