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)