Soeharto yet to decide on Mandela's letter

Soeharto yet to decide on Mandela's letter

JAKARTA (JP): A senior cabinet official questioned yesterday
whether the release of rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana"
Gusmao, as requested by South African President Nelson Mandela in
a letter to President Soeharto, would help resolve the East Timor
issue.

Speaking to journalists, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono
queried the relevance of Xanana's release in relation to
achieving peace in Indonesia's youngest province.

"There is no guarantee that Xanana's release would completely
ensure a comprehensive solution on East Timor," Moerdiono said.

While acknowledging that the government would take
international opinion into account, the minister however
maintained that the decision on Xanana's release would be based
on national interests.

"Xanana was jailed for committing a crime. They must remember
that he killed a lot of innocent people. The families of the
victims also demand justice from Xanana," the minister noted.

As yet there has been no official reply from Soeharto to
Mandela's request.

Soeharto received a letter on Friday from South African
President Nelson Mandela urging Xanana's release. Mandela had
recently noted that Xanana's release was an important element in
moving for a settlement to the East Timor issue.

Mandela's letter was late in arriving because it was
accidentally sent to the Portuguese Embassy in Pretoria instead
of the Indonesian Embassy.

Pretoria expelled over the weekend the Portuguese ambassador,
Vasco Valente, for allegedly leaking the contents of the letter.

Lisbon responded by saying it "vigorously deplores" the
expulsion of its ambassador.

Here in Jakarta, Moerdiono said the matter was between
Pretoria and Lisbon, "however, it is extraordinarily strange that
the letter was received by Portugal".

He asserted that this incident would not damage ties between
the Indonesia and South Africa and that Soeharto was considering
visiting Pretoria in the future.

"President is seriously considering visiting the country soon
to reciprocate Mandela's, who has visited here three times,"
Moerdiono said.

Meanwhile at the United Nations, ambassadorial-level talks
between Indonesia and Portugal on the question of East Timor
began Monday.

The talks, expected to last until Friday, are being chaired by
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for East
Timor, Jamsheed Marker, a Pakistani former UN ambassador.

Indonesia is represented by the foreign ministry's director
general of political affairs, Nugroho Wisnumurti, while Portugal
has sent Fernando Neves, its special envoy for East Timor.

After two days of talks at the United Nations in June, the
foreign ministers of Portugal and Indonesia agreed that senior
officials of the two sides would embark on intensive negotiations
on East Timor this summer.

The former Portuguese colony was integrated into Indonesia in
1976. The UN, however, still recognizes Lisbon as the
administrative authority in East Timor.

Since 1983 the UN secretary-general has brokered talks between
the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers, aiming for an
internationally acceptable solution to the issue. (prb/mds)