UN Chief Annan to give E. Timor critical look
UN Chief Annan to give E. Timor critical look
UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): United Nations secretary-general- designate Kofi Annan said he would look "very critically" at the negotiating process on East Timor, which has failed to produce a breakthrough in 20 years, AFP reported yesterday.
Annan, who takes over from Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Jan. 1, made the statement Wednesday at his first news conference since being sworn in as United Nations (UN) secretary-general Tuesday.
"If you've tried something which hasn't worked for 20 years, you have to try something else. If not a drastic change, some adjustment in the approach one has taken," he said.
"I can assure you that I will look at it very critically and see if there is something that we can do differently that will help move the process forward," he said.
Boutros-Ghali during his five-year term presided over eight rounds of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal to determine the status of East Timor. At stake in the negotiations is the status of the former Portuguese colony.
Indonesia has insisted that a declaration by tribal leaders representing the majority of East Timorese to integrate with the republic a year after the Portuguese colonial administration left, bespoke the status of the territory.
The United Nations does not recognize the move and still regards Portugal as the administering power.
The next round was originally scheduled for tomorrow, but a report from Lisbon said the meeting had been postponed because of the change in the UN leadership.
Antara reported yesterday that Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas had already arrived in New York, and regretted Lisbon's unilateral decision to postpone the talks.
"This meeting had long been planned and is being postponed because Portugal is not ready," Alatas told the news agency.
He said he found it hard to accept Portugal's reasoning that a meeting would be of no use if it would be ceremonial without discussing substantial issues.
The Indonesian minister said he had come to New York nevertheless to meet with Boutros-Ghali and to express thanks on behalf of the government for his assistance and cooperation.
Alatas already met with Annan to congratulate him on his election as the new secretary general.
"I got a positive impression that he knows very well about the efforts to solve the East Timor issue. He showed understanding of what needs to be done to continue the efforts to find a settlement through a tripartite dialog," he said.
Alatas flew in on Wednesday from Paris, where he met with his French counterpart Herve de Charette on Tuesday.
Another Antara dispatch from Paris said that during the meeting, Alatas conveyed Indonesia's view that the East Timor issue should not interfere in the dialog between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU).
Alatas said Indonesia noted the relentless Portuguese attempts to push East Timor onto the agenda of the ASEAN-EU forum, according to Antara.
This was not to say Indonesia was denying there was a problem in East Timor, he explained to his French host.
What Indonesia was asking was that the East Timor issue should be discussed in the appropriate forum, he told the news agency.
"This does not mean that Indonesia does not have the courage to discuss East Timor (either)," he was quoted as saying.
He added that Charette responded "positively" to the Indonesian position.
The French minister mentioned Paris' wish to take part in the ASEAN Regional Forum, an annual meeting involving countries in Asia and a number of major powers.
Alatas was in Paris as one of several representatives of the Non-Aligned Movement to meet other ministers representing the Group of Seven industrialized countries and the Group of 77 developing countries.
The meeting discussed issues such as easing the debts of the poorest countries and countering terrorism, Antara said. (emb)