Timor talks to begin, Alatas says
Timor talks to begin, Alatas says
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Portugal, which have been
negotiating at the United Nations for a settlement of East Timor,
are expected to begin discussing substance issues in Geneva this
week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas says.
"The UN Secretary General may very well guide the talks
towards developing a mutually acceptable solution," Alatas said
here on Saturday shortly before leaving on a lengthy tour that
will include Geneva.
The fourth-round of meeting between the Indonesian and the
Portuguese foreign ministers will be presided by UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali in Geneva on Friday.
"Nevertheless, I still have no idea of what it will be like,"
Alatas said.
As part of the United Nations efforts to resolve the East
Timor question, Secretary General Boutros-Ghali has initiated
talks to create a conducive atmosphere for the discussion of the
final settlement.
The talks in Geneva will follow-up results of the previous
meeting last September in New York in which both sides agreed to
promote a healthier atmosphere between the peoples and
governments of Portugal and Indonesia.
Prior to the Geneva talks, there will be a meeting of the two
country's permanent ambassadors to the UN.
Alatas said he hoped Indonesia's efforts to improve the
diplomatic situation with Portugal will be recognized at the
meeting.
In the past few months, Indonesia has hosted an assorted group
of Portuguese citizens to East Timor from journalists, political
figures and most recently a group 24 former Timorese residents.
He also disclosed that Indonesia was considering opening its
doors to two human rights organizations, known in the past for
their staunch criticisms of Indonesia's policy in East Timor.
He said Indonesia would be hosting the visit of Sidney Jones
of the New York-based Asia Watch and is considering opening a
dialog with the London-based Amnesty International.
Speaking of the Portuguese stance prior to the Geneva meeting,
Alatas bemoaned the fact that Lisbon's rhetoric was still
confrontational and persisted in using worn-out rhetoric of
Indonesian "annexation and invasion" of East Timor.
"The record shows that it is Portugal who is inflexible," he
said in reply to questions of Jakarta easing its stance on the
issue.
Alatas pointed out at Portugal's refusal of a proposal by then
Secretary General Perez de Cuellar to subject the East Timor
question to debate at the UN General Assembly in 1987. "Had they
(Portugal) agreed, we would have solved the problem," he said.
He deplored the fact that Indonesia is too often the victim of
the distortion of facts created by Portugal and the foreign
press.
"I'm sick of these kind of reports. It doesn't show any
imagination," he said.
South Africa
Prior to his arrival in Geneva, Alatas is scheduled to make a
visit to the Republic of Slovakia and Bulgaria to fulfill an
outstanding invitation from those two countries.
South Africa
At the end of the tripartite talks, Alatas will fly to the
South African capital of Pretoria to attend the inauguration of
its first democratically elected president.
The elections held on April 26-29 are the first multiracial
elections ever held in the former apartheid state.
To supervise the elections, Indonesia has sent a 15-man
observer team and donated an unspecified amount of money to
facilitate its smooth implementation.
The president has received a personal invitation, but due to
prior commitments he cannot attend, Alatas said.
Indonesia recently established a liaison office in South
Africa which should soon be upgraded to full embassy status
following the inauguration. "We are also planning to open a
Consulate-General in Cape Town," he said. (07)