No loser in East Timor dialog

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)