Moslem leaders plan conference on Moro
JAKARTA (JP): The official Indonesian anger at a conference on East Timor in the Philippines has spread to non-governmental organizations, who say they are ready to highlight poor treatment of members of the Moslem Moro rebel organization in retaliation.
Moslem leader Lukman Harun said a number of groups, as well as students from the National University, are now planning to hold a meeting on "the plight of Moro Moslems."
If the Philippines fails to respect Indonesia's stance on East Timor, and violates "the spirit of ASEAN friendship", "then we are ready to do the same", Lukman said.
Strong reactions to the planned May 31 to June 4 meeting on East Timor have also been issued by other groups.
Students from the Jakarta-based Jayabaya University, scheduled to participate in a Harvard University-sponsored conference of Asia-Pacific students in Manila from June 4 to 7, may also cancel their trip.
"We are waiting for a green-light from the government," Rector Tubagus Achyani Atmakusumah said.
A delegation of businessmen have also threatened to pull out from a regional business conference in Davao next week, unless the Philippines satisfactorily explains why it does not ban the meeting on East Timor.
North Sulawesi governor C.J. Rantung, who was to head the Indonesian delegation, told Philippine officials his group would not attend the East ASEAN Business Conference.
The planned meeting of academics and NGOs will discuss Indonesia's rule over the former Portuguese colony.
Ramos
President Fidel Ramos has distanced his government from the private meeting on East Timor, which he has said he is powerless to prevent.
He sought to placate Indonesian feelings on Monday by sending a special envoy to Jakarta with a message for President Soeharto.
Ramos said in a statement the mission would make clear his government "disassociates itself from the conference (and) that it looks with disfavor upon the use of Philippines territory to question the territorial integrity of friendly neighbors."
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, however, expressed anger and dissatisfaction over Manila's stance, saying the meeting could affect relations between the two countries.
He also said that the seminar was not an academic forum as East Timorese exiles opposed to Indonesian rule would use it "to further their political ambitions".
Lukman told The Jakarta Post here yesterday that many Moslems in ASEAN countries have been holding back their anger over the Moro question.
"If the Philippines wants to embarrass Indonesia with East Timor question, we can bring up the issue of Moro, too," he said.
Indonesia has acted as a mediator between the largely-Catholic Philippines with the minority, mainly-Moslem Moro ethnic group, which wants autonomy in the southern Philippines. (swe)