Timor talks participants leave for Austria
Timor talks participants leave for Austria
JAKARTA (JP): A group of East Timorese invited by the United
Nations to the third round of the All-Inclusive Intra-East
Timorese Dialog (AETD) talks left here Wednesday for Austria.
The talks, the third so far, are scheduled to take place from
Oct. 20 to Oct. 23, Antara reported yesterday. Dili Bishop Carlos
Filipe Ximenes Belo, who will act as an observer at the talks, is
scheduled to leave Dili for Austria tomorrow.
Political questions are off-limits at the talks, which have
been designed to develop mutual understanding between the two
sides -- those who support and those who are against the
Indonesian government.
A participant, Domingos MD Soares, said here Wednesday the
Indonesian participants to the talks were ready to meet with the
other side.
Soares is a member of a team entrusted with formulating the
objectives and agenda of the talks.
"We, particularly the formulating team, have made adequate
preparations, for instance on cooperation among all East Timorese
both living in Indonesia and abroad in an effort to develop and
maintain East Timorese culture," Soares said.
The East Timorese participants will strive to form a center of
cooperation on East Timorese culture.
According to Soares, the Indonesian delegation would in
principle accept and support proposals and endeavors to improve
the welfare of all East Timorese as long as they did not infringe
matters related to East Timorese integration.
The former Portuguese colony integrated into Indonesia in 1976
and became its 27th province, but the United Nations still
considers Lisbon the administrative power there.
To deepen knowledge on East Timorese culture, the Indonesian
Foreign Affairs Ministry invited East Timorese cultural
anthropologists Domingos de Sousa, Francisco Nascimento and
Eugenio de C.J. Sarmento to brief the participants.
Belo said he would not stay long in Austria.
"As soon as the talks end, I will return to East Timor to
attend the centennial anniversary of the Catholic church in
Soibada," he said.
Soibada is 80 kilometers east of Dili. (swe)