Tripartite talks back special body for East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): Senior officials of Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations (UN) endorsed on Friday the formation of a consultative body in East Timor to facilitate peace and cooperation following the Aug. 30 ballot on the troubled territory's future.

"The Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) endorsed the agreement reached this week at a UN-organized meeting of the East Timorese leaders... which included the formation of an East Timorese consultative body aimed at facilitating cooperation and reconciliation in the aftermath of the popular consultation in East Timor," UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker told a news conference after completing the two-day tripartite talks at the foreign ministry.

Marker said the body would be made up of 25 representatives but no names were disclosed. He said "some details of this particular agreement will be issued later".

The ministry's Director General for Political Affairs Nugroho Wisnumurti told the same news conference the consultative commission was established by a meeting of East Timorese leaders on Wednesday.

"This is something that was initiated by the UN and the idea was endorsed in New York at the previous SOM," Nugroho said, adding the commission would start work on Aug. 31.

Marker said SOM would reconvene in Lisbon on Aug. 26 "in order to continue the discussion on the remaining stages of the process".

He added that "there is no question that the UN presence (in East Timor) will continue" after the August ballot.

"There may be an element of restructuring in the sense that we would need less electoral personnel but we would continue the presence of political officers," Marker said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has proposed increasing the number of UN civilian police and military liaison officers to about 710 in the province.

Indonesia and Portugal agreed in May that the UN would send in contingents of unarmed civilian police and electoral officers to supervise the vote while leaving security to the Indonesian police.

Marker also said the UN "took seriously" the alleged military support for pro-Jakarta militias which have been blamed for most of the violence in the former Portuguese colony since January, when the government first announced it might grant East Timor independence if its people rejected an autonomy offer.

"We brought it to the attention of the Indonesian delegation, measures have been taken and I discussed this matter at the highest level. And I am satisfied that measures are being taken to correct the situation."

He said that "there should be an absence of threats, violence and intimidation from whichever quarter" in East Timor.

Marker said the SOM was both positive and constructive and the participants "had some very productive discussions on the situation after the August ballot".

Marker's statement came as the Indonesian Military replaced the head of the East Timor Military Command, Col. Tono Suratman.

Tono, who was replaced by Col. Muhamad Noer Muis, was promoted to brigadier general. Some news agency reports quoted military sources as saying he was likely to be appointed deputy commander of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus).

Meanwhile, Nugroho said Indonesia would not let jailed East Timorese leader Alexandre Xanana Gusmao personally take part in the two-week campaign beginning on Saturday despite international pressure.

"Campaigning can be done in many ways, including by speaking to the public through television. So, there are so many ways that he can fully participate in the campaign even under the present circumstances," he said.

Xanana, who is serving a 20-year jail term for armed rebellion, has said he will campaign through television and radio broadcasts. (byg/33)