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)