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.