Talks with Pretoria on East Timor loom
Talks with Pretoria on East Timor loom
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
yesterday Indonesia was ready to discuss the East Timor question
with South African officials, including President Nelson Mandela.
He was quoted by Antara as saying President Soeharto's visit
to South Africa today is in exchange for Mandela's visit to
Indonesia last July, and is not intended to specifically focus on
the East Timor issue.
"It is normal if the East Timor issue is touched upon during
discussions. It would be strange if it was not touched upon," the
minister told reporters in Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, the
site of talks between President Soeharto and Namibian President
Sam Nujoma yesterday.
President Soeharto's visit to South Africa ends Saturday.
During his visit to Indonesia, Mandela raised the issue of
East Timor, and visited jailed East Timorese separatist leader
Xanana Gusmao.
The former Portuguese colony was integrated as Indonesia's
27th province in 1976, but the United Nations still considers
Lisbon the administering power.
Alatas said Mandela supported talks between Indonesia and
Portugal under the auspices of the United Nations Secretary-
General.
Earlier yesterday, during bilateral talks at the State House
in Windhoek, Soeharto told Nujoma that Indonesia is ready to
exchange experiences with Namibia in the mining sector,
Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said.
According to Moerdiono, Nujoma has invited Indonesian
businesspeople to benefit from Africa's export processing zone as
a gateway to the region's market.
Namibia and 14 other countries in the region have established
the Southern African Economic Development Community (SADEC). The
organization accommodates a market of 200 million people.
At a banquet held by Nujoma Tuesday, Soeharto said Indonesia
understands the meaning of human rights, dignity and independence
because the nation experienced the bitterness of colonialism for
350 years.
It was the reason why Indonesia consistently assisted in
Namibia's liberation from colonialism until they declared their
independence from South Africa in 1990.
"Currently, Indonesia and Namibia are facing the same enemy,
that is poverty, backwardness, injustice and the economic gap,"
Soeharto said.
He praised Namibia's impressive economic progress and its
success in promoting democracy and human rights, and maintaining
political stability.
"Our two countries are against colonialism and jointly stick
to the peaceful coexistence principle. We believe that relations
among nations must be based on noninterference principles in our
own domestic affairs," Soeharto said. (10/prb)