No loser in East Timor dialog

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas yesterday dismissed suggestions that the "Burg Schlaining Declaration" was unfavorable to Indonesia, saying that the recent All-Inclusive Intra-East Timor dialog should not be viewed as a win-lose situation.

"From the beginning the important thing for me is not gaining or losing (in the talks). There is neither winning nor losing," Alatas told journalists here yesterday afternoon.

He said that in the Declaration there was nothing new introduced except the call for further reconciliation talks.

East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976. However, the United Nations still regards Portugal as the administrative power there.

Under the aegis of the UN, talks have been conducted by the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers to find an internationally-acceptable solution to the issue.

During their last meeting in Geneva in January the two foreign ministers agreed that a reconciliation dialog between opposing East Timorese factions would be held to help create a conducive atmosphere for the talks between Jakarta and Lisbon.

Thirty pro- and anti-integration East Timorese gathered in Austria last week for a three-day reconciliatory dialog under the facilitation of the United Nations.

At the end of their meeting they released a declaration which called, among others things, for the implementation of necessary measures in the field of human rights and the preservation of the East Timorese cultural identity by introducing the teaching of Portuguese and Tetun languages.

In the aftermath of the meeting, various interpretations of the results have emerged, including a media report quoting a former East Timor Governor who is currently Indonesian ambassador to Bucharest, Rumania, Mario Viegas Carrascalao.

In the report the former governor was quoted as saying that the results of the dialog and the declaration were unfavorable to Indonesia.

When asked by journalists, Alatas expressed regret at the ambassador's comments.

"I regret that an ambassador, who should be better informed than other people, could draw such a conclusion," Alatas remarked, stressing that nothing in the declaration was detrimental to Indonesia's position, including paragraph six, which cites UN Resolution 37/30.

Alatas said the declaration merely reaffirmed the on-going process to seek an international solution. (mds)