Protesters want U.S. to help solve Timor issue

Protesters want U.S. to help solve Timor issue

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty-nine East Timorese students who have
holed up at the U.S. embassy compound since Saturday said
yesterday that they want the United States to take "real action"
to help solve problems in East Timor.

The spokesman for the students, Domingos Sarmeto Alvez, told
reporters who waited outside the gate at the embassy that they
are pleased with President Bill Clinton's remarks at a press
conference Tuesday night.

"We appreciate the statement made by President Clinton but the
United states should take real and concrete action to help solve
the problems," Domingos said.

Clinton told a news conference on Tuesday night that East
Timor people should have a greater say over their own affairs and
that he intended to discuss this issue with President Soeharto
during his state visit.

The students have been occupying the U.S. embassy compound for
five days. They said they intend to stay there until their
demands are fulfilled.

The students have called for the release of guerrilla leader
Xanana Gusmao, serving a 20-year sentence for subversion after
his capture in late 1992. They also want him to be included in
broad peace talks with Indonesia mediated by the United States.

However, the spokesman of the Armed Forces, Brig. Gen. Syarwan
Hamid, said earlier that it was impossible to fulfill the
protesters' demand because Xanana was sentenced through a legal
procedure.

Syarwan added that the students' action discredits Indonesia's
reputation on the international scene.

Yesterday, the students also held up a banner demanding that
Indonesian government release their friends who were captured at
various places, such as the Senen railway station and in front of
the U.S. embassy.

The students also said that they are considering accepting
the Portuguese government's offer of political asylum.

Portuguese Prime Minister Anibal Cavaco Silva in Lisbon early
this week that his country's foreign ministry was trying to
arrange for the group to go to Portugal. (yns)