Susilo visits Santa Cruz Cemetry, gets warm greeting from locals

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Dili, East Timor

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited on Saturday the Santa Cruz Cemetery in Indonesia's former territory of East Timor, indicating that both countries have agreed to close the black chapter of past relations and start anew.

During the visit to the cemetery, Susilo -- who was escorted by East Timor foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta -- was surprisingly greeted by hundreds of East Timorese who crowded along the street and in front of the cemetery.

At the cemetery, Susilo laid a wreath in respect of those who perished during the brutal shooting of hundreds of proindependence activists by Indonesian troops in 1991, which met with worldwide condemnation.

"My visit to the cemetery is part of our attempt to become good friends. We can now forget the past and look to the future," said Susilo at a joint press conference with East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao.

Susilo reiterated that the visit was also aimed at respecting local heroes, since East Timor had no heroes cemetery nor a war memorial for East Timorese.

"We are grateful that the President is willing to visit Santa Cruz Cemetery. It will become a hallmark in the relations between our nations and people," said Xanana, adding that East Timorese had agreed not to dwell on the past.

After visiting Santa Cruz, Susilo visited the Seroja war memorial for Indonesian soldiers, located in front of Santa Cruz Cemetery, to pay tribute to Indonesian troops killed in East Timor during the Indonesian occupation.

In Seroja, Susilo laid a wreath on the grave of Maj. B. Ginting, a member of Indonesian Army Special Forces (Kopassus) who died in 1986 during an operation to combat East Timorese fighters, and Maj. Gustav, who died during the Seroja military operation in 1976.

During a visit to the East Timor parliament, Susilo said in a speech that although the two countries had settled a number of differences, there were still several problems that needed to be addressed immediately and justly.

According to Susilo, the problems include repatriation of some 6,000 East Timorese refugees currently in the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara as well as the repatriation of assets belonging to Indonesian citizens and state enterprises.

After a majority of East Timorese voted for independence in a self-determination referendum in 1999, 285,000 prointegration supporters fled the province for West Timor.

Meanwhile, as part of efforts to boost relations, Indonesia plans to extent assistance packages for East Timor, including scholarships for East Timorese university students to study in Indonesia, training programs for tax and custom officials as well as training packages for 100 police officers at the Indonesian Police Academy.

Indonesia will also invite East Timor to attend this month's Asia-Africa conference in Bandung, West Java.

Indonesia will also propose during next week's ministerial meeting in the Philippines to invite East Timor to the East Asian Summit in Malaysia later this year.

In return, East Timor is expected to facilitate Indonesian businessmen wishing to do business in East Timor.