Military pullout from E. Timor to continue

Military pullout from E. Timor to continue

JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto
promised yesterday to continue with the phased reduction in
military presence in East Timor, following the first round to
withdraw an entire battalion of 1,000 soldiers starting this
week.

Wiranto, who is also the minister of defense and security,
told reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting that eventually only
troops stationed at various East Timor commands and police
precincts would remain.

"We will be left with two battalions. We will have the Korems
(military command posts) and the Kodim (district military
command), and the East Timor Police," he said.

A total of 398 soldiers left East Timor on Tuesday in the
first round of an ABRI move to withdraw all remaining combat
troops from the troubled territory. The second round, involving
600 soldiers, is planned for next month.

Those withdrawn on Tuesday came from two companies of the
elite Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) and one company
from the Army's crack special force (Kopassus).

East Timor Military Commander Col. Tono Suratman said the move
would reduce the number of ABRI personnel to 11,000, including
some 3,000 police officers. Suratman said ABRI would retain
several battalions of territorial troops to help with various
public works projects and social works in East Timor.

Wiranto said the decision to reduce the number of ABRI combat
soldiers was taken because the security situation had improved
and not because of mounting international pressure.

"We analyzed the situation and concluded that we should begin
the gradual withdrawal," he said.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas explained yesterday in
larger detail Indonesia's offer to grant autonomy status for East
Timor to solve the current dispute with Portugal, the former
colonial master of the territory, Reuters reported.

"We have offered to grant East Timor a special status, a
special province with wide-ranging autonomy, in the context of
and as part of an overall comprehensive settlement of the issue,
a final settlement of the issue that is mutually acceptable," he
told reporters in Manila where he was attending a regional
meeting.

"Towards that end we are prepared to sit down and negotiate
under the auspices of the secretary-general of the United Nations
with Portugal the substantive aspects or elements for that wide-
ranging autonomy. So from that, it should be clear that this is
not a unilaterally granted autonomy but one that will be
negotiated as part and parcel of an overall settlement."

Alatas is scheduled to meet with Portuguese Foreign Minister
Jaime Gama at the United Nations on Aug. 4 and Aug. 5.

Alatas said Jakarta proposed to retain responsibility for
foreign policy, external defense and certain monetary and fiscal
policies. Other matters, including internal security, would be
the responsibility of East Timor.

These arrangements would be in conformity "with most
autonomous regions that are known in this world", he said

The minister said that independence was not viable for East
Timor and Jakarta did not support the idea of a referendum --
advocated by some East Timorese -- because it could reopen old
wounds and intensify differences among various groups in the
territory.

"We all know that East Timor is only half of an island right
smack in the middle of 17,000 islands of the Indonesian
archipelago," he said.

A referendum was not viable because it would be rejected by a
large number of people in East Timor. "If we are not careful
indeed it could lead to a renewed civil war," he said.

"And therefore we believe that in our scenario, if it were to
be accepted, all the opposing groups would then be free to return
to East Timor, (Jose Alexandre) "Xanana" Gusmao will be free,
those still in the mountains can go down and be completely
amnestied."

However, he ruled out any imminent release of Gusmao, a
leading East Timorese opposition figure incarcerated in Jakarta.

Under Jakarta's plans, East Timor would be able to elect its
own regional legislature and set up its own education system.
(prb/emb)