Ramos-Horta meets Xanana
Ramos-Horta meets Xanana
JAKARTA (JP): East Timor independence campaigner Jose Ramos-
Horta met jailed proindependence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana"
Gusmao after 23 years of self-exile and said he felt speechless.
"I was speechless, not only meeting him as a leader, but as a
human being, one of the greatest human beings I have known in my
life," Ramos-Horta said as quoted by AFP on Saturday.
"I gave him a big, warm embrace."
Ramos, who shared the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize with Dili Bishop
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, arrived in Jakarta on Saturday after
being granted a visa by the government to attend peace talks
between proindependence and prointegration factions.
The talks, sponsored by East Timor bishops Belo and Bascilio
dos Nascimento, are taking place at Sheraton Bandara Hotel at the
Soekarno-Hatta airport. The first round was held in East Timor
last September. Friday's and Saturday's talks only involved East
Timorese in Indonesia, while meetings from Sunday to Wednesday
will include East Timorese residing overseas.
The talks, called the Dare II dialog and reconciliation
conference, are expected to involve 60 leaders of disputing
camps.
The event is named after the mountainous area in West Dili
where the first round of talks took place. The result in
September was that both parties recognized their differing views,
and that both would refrain from violence.
However, activists say that over 100 have been killed in
violence, which escalated after President B.J. Habibie announced
in January the government would consider giving East Timor
independence if its people rejected an autonomy package.
Plans for the second round of talks were put on hold until a
tripartite meeting between Indonesia, Portugal and the United
Nations agreed on May 5 on a direct ballot for Aug. 8 to
determine East Timor's future. Last week, however, the UN
announced a delay of two weeks, citing a lack of security
guarantees.
The government's granting of visas to overseas East Timorese
who have been highly critical of the government, such as Ramos-
Horta, does not mean they can automatically visit their homeland.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas has said Ramos-Horta
will be allowed to visit East Timor soil on the condition that he
does not campaign. Ramos-Horta has accepted the condition.
"They (the people of East Timor) have been there for 23 years,
they know (the conditions) better than I do," he was quoted as
saying.
In Dili, the UN's special envoy for East Timor, Jamsheed
Marker, said at the end of a three-day visit on Saturday that he
was satisfied with preparations for the ballot, and stressed the
requirement that all parties had an equal right to campaign.
Addressing the media with representatives of the United
Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), Marker
expressed confidence in and praise for UNAMET, which has been
assigned to prepare for the ballot. The body has been criticized
for being proindependence instead of being impartial.
Marker visited the regencies of Liquica and Lospalos to
inspect logistical supplies and to observe security conditions
there.
Separately, Thailand's foreign ministry said it would send a
team of nine security personnel to join the unarmed UN civilian
police in East Timor, reports said.
On Saturday, 30 multinational unarmed police officers arrived
in Dili from northern Australia, the second batch to arrive after
41 officers arrived on June 21.
The presence of the police force is part of an agreement
signed by Indonesia and Portugal at the United Nations on May 5,
while proindependence groups have said they had hoped for a UN
peacekeeping force.
Also on Saturday, Antara reported a battalion from the joint
territorial task force was withdrawn after fulfilling a 10-month
tour of duty in East Timor.
Military commander Col. Tono Suratman said in a farewell
ceremony here that the withdrawal of the task force aimed at
creating a conducive climate for the direct ballot. (anr)