Soeharto receives Mandela's letter

Soeharto receives Mandela's letter

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has finally received the much
publicized letter from South African President Nelson Mandela
urging the release of jailed East Timorese rebel leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said the letter had arrived
yesterday but he did not have a response from President Soeharto.

"The letter was received really late by our embassy in
Pretoria," he said. "I've asked our ambassador to find out why
the letter arrived so late."

Moerdiono confirmed that Mandela's letter did contain a
request for Xanana's release.

"President Soeharto will take the contents of the letter into
consideration before making a final decision," he said. "Whether
it will be announced or not is another matter."

After meeting with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio in
Pretoria on Wednesday, Mandela told journalists that he had sent
a letter to Soeharto urging for Xanana's release.

But it was not until late yesterday evening that journalists
received confirmation of the letter's arrival.

According to Moerdiono he received a report about the letter
yesterday afternoon from Head of State Protocol Dadang Iskandar.

Xanana was arrested in East Timor in 1992 and sentenced to
life imprisonment in May 1993. His sentence was later reduced to
20-years by President Soeharto.

During Mandela's visit here last month, the South African
leader met with Xanana.

East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976 but the
United Nations still recognizes Portugal as the administrative
authority there.

Moerdiono said Soeharto will view Mandela's request in the
context of finding an internationally acceptable solution to the
East Timor issue.

"But of course we have our own considerations," he said. "We
have to remember that Xanana and his forces have claimed many
innocent victims."

Moerdiono had earlier noted that Xanana was jailed for
criminal, not political, activities.

When pressed if Soeharto would reply to the letter, Moerdiono
replied: "I haven't had an opportunity to ask the President about
what he's thinking of doing."

Moerdiono expressed an apparent surprise that the whole matter
rose through the media in the way it did. He indicated that
Mandela himself had promised to pursue a "quiet" line of
diplomacy.

"I don't know how all this happened," he said. "Wasn't it
agreed that from the beginning, as expressed by President Mandela
himself, the (contents of the) meeting between President Soeharto
and Mandela would not be announced to the public." (prb)