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)