Susilo meets Xanana, conclude border issue

Susilo meets Xanana, conclude border issue

Wahyoe Boedhiwardana and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar/Medan

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with Timor Leste President
Xanana Gusmao at the Tampak Siring Palace in Denpasar, Bali, on
Tuesday to discuss common issues, including the border between
the two countries.

Briefing the press after the three-hour dinner meeting,
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said the
two leaders reached an agreement on the border issue.

"We will sign a land border agreement early next year,
beginning with a sea demarcation ...," Hassan said.

He said Susilo and Xanana also agreed on the importance of
open communications to address any problems that might arise
between Indonesia and Timor Leste.

"We have reviewed our bilateral relations over the past three
years and agreed to expand and deepen the dialog (between the two
countries)," Hassan said.

The meeting between the two men was the first since Susilo
took the oath of office on Oct. 20.

Susilo was accompanied at the meeting by Vice President Jusuf
Kalla, while Xanana was accompanied by Prime Minister Mari
Alkatiri.

The informal meeting was held two weeks after Timor Leste
deported hundreds of Indonesians who were in the country without
the necessary documents.

"The issue (of the deportation) will be discussed by ministers
since the two leaders did not specifically touch on the issue,"
Hassan said.

Timor Leste, Indonesia's former province, voted for
independence in a United Nations-sponsored referendum in 1999.

Xanana's visit is part of an overseas trip that also brought
him to Japan.

During the dinner, the two leaders agreed to accommodate
traditional border crossings between the countries and to open
land routes East Nusa Tenggara to the Timor Leste capital Dili.

Meanwhile, dozens of Indonesians deported from Timor Leste
plan to bring their case to the International Court of Justice,
saying they were illegally expelled from the country.

They said they had lived in Timor Leste their entire lives and
had been forced to abandon assets when they were exported from
the country.

"We will sue the East Timor government for deporting us. It
was unjust treatment and should be brought to the International
Court of Justice," Arham Appe told The Jakarta Post in Tanjung
Pura, North Sumatra, on Tuesday.

North Sumatra accepted some 245 people who were deported from
Timor Leste following the enactment of a citizenships law that
requires people to have lived in the country for more than 10
years before obtaining citizenship.