President to meet Xanana

President to meet Xanana

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid has planned to hold
a meeting next month with East Timor independence leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, possibly in Brunei or another neutral
Southeast Asian country, his aide said on Monday.

Muladi, the state secretary in the former government of B.J.
Habibie, said the meeting would take place during the President's
lengthy working visits to nine Asian capitals.

"It will be an informal meeting which hopefully will bear
fruit," Muladi, who is helping President Abdurrahman settle in
his new office, said.

Xanana, who spent seven years in a Jakarta jail until his
release last month, was chosen because he was known to be a
moderate figure who would likely become the new East Timor
leader, he said.

Muladi said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was drafting a
letter notifying the United Nations of the decision by the
People's Consultative Assembly this month to endorse the result
of the Aug. 30 ballot in East Timor.

In the UN-supervised ballot, East Timorese overwhelmingly
voted against the option for wide-ranging autonomy within
Indonesia.

Muladi said once the letter was signed by the President and
delivered to the United Nations, Indonesia would effectively hand
over East Timor to the world body."There is no need for any
ceremony," he said. (prb/emb)