RI says no to UN force in Timor
RI says no to UN force in Timor
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia rejected on Friday mounting calls for
some kind of United Nations presence in East Timor, even as
critics charged it with failing to arrest the rising violence in
the territory.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific
Affairs Stanley Roth met with Indonesian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas to discuss the latest situation in East Timor.
Roth, who flew to Singapore on Friday, had also met with East
Timor guerrilla leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao at the
latter's special detention house in Jakarta.
Alatas said he had reiterated to Roth Indonesia's stance
against allowing an international presence in the former
Portuguese colony, AFP reported.
"I explained to him (Roth) that it's not the time (for
international presence), as I have often said. We will form our
own independent commission on East Timor," he told journalists.
Alatas was referring to an independent commission on East
Timor to be formed by the National Commission on Human Rights,
which has been endorsed by President B.J. Habibie.
He dismissed speculation that Roth had proposed the formation
of an international commission for East Timor.
He said Roth aired a possibility of, and that he had rejected,
the presence of "an international element" in the territory.
A parliamentary delegation from Germany wound up its visit in
Indonesia, including East Timor, with a call to Jakarta and the
international community to consider a UN peacekeeping mission in
East Timor.
"To avoid further bloodshed and a political and military
escalation, a peacekeeping mission of the United Nations should
be considered as soon as the fighting can be stopped through
negotiations with the help of the church in East Timor.
"This is especially important if the Indonesian government
continuously fails to take responsibility for the safety of
Timorese people," the Committee of the Economic Cooperation and
Development of the Deutsche Bundestag said in a statement.
The delegation visited East Timor and met with local
government and church officials and the representatives of the
International Committee for the Red Cross, as well as
representatives of both sides of the East Timor conflict.
Describing his 50-minute meeting with Xanana on Friday, Roth
said the two had held "a very good discussion on what steps to be
taken to promote a peaceful outcome for East Timor."
Roth said Washington was "extremely concerned" over the
escalating level of violence in East Timor.
Roth could well be one of Xanana's last guests at his special
detention house. The government has threatened to send Xanana
back to his prison cell unless he revokes his earlier call on
proindependence East Timorese to take up arms against the pro-
Indonesia armed militias and the Indonesian military.
Xanana refused to take back his words, saying that it was a
call for his supporters to defend themselves, but he offered to
assist in any efforts at promoting peace in East Timor.
Xanana's lawyer, Hendardi, who was present on Friday, quoted
Roth as saying that "the U.S. government understood what had
prompted Xanana's call to arms on April 5."
"But, (Roth) added that he was happy to verify in person Mr.
Gusmao's commitment to peace and reconciliation in the
territory," Hendardi said.