UN envoy Marker meets with Habibie, Alatas on East Timor
UN envoy Marker meets with Habibie, Alatas on East Timor
JAKARTA (JP): Visiting UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker
said Tuesday he was assured of Indonesia's "firm commitment" to
negotiations which have dragged on for years regarding East
Timor.
He held separate meetings with President B.J. Habibie and
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas Tuesday to discuss the government's
proposal to give autonomy to East Timor.
Marker met with Alatas at his office in Pejambon, Central
Jakarta, and then accompanied him to meet the president at
Merdeka Palace.
Marker said the public had begun to understand what the
government meant by its offer to East Timor of "wide-ranging"
autonomy regarding self-management of its financial affairs and
local administration.
Meanwhile calls for a referendum to let East Timorese
determine their own future have been raised in several
demonstrations.
Marker said he received much encouragement from minister
Alatas as well as assurances of Indonesia's firm commitment to
the negotiation process.
He added both parties agreed that the most important thing to
do was to maintain a calm and peaceful atmosphere in order to
continue fruitful negotiations.
Marker arrived in Jakarta last Sunday from his two-day visit
to East Timor.
He arrived in Indonesia last Tuesday for a nine-day visit.
Last Wednesday he met with two top generals, Maj. Gen. Zacky
Anwar Makarim, chief of the military intelligence agency, and Lt.
Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, chief of the Armed Forces'
territorial affairs.
Marker met jailed East Timorese resistance leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao at the Cipinang prison last Thursday.
Regarding Xanana's release, Marker said he discussed this
topic with Alatas, but refused to comment, saying, "I am not in a
position to comment until I report to the secretary-general".
Meanwhile, Antara quoted Director General for Political
Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Nugroho Wisnumurti as saying
representative offices called interest section offices of
Indonesia and Portugal would be opened at the end of January next
year.
Nugroho said Indonesia would send Rezlan Ishar Jenie and Aris
Havas Oegrosono from the foreign ministry to be the representative
officers.
The Embassy of Thailand in Lisbon would serve as the
representative office for the Indonesian government, while
Portugal will use the Dutch embassy in Jakarta.
Reports indicate that Portugal's interests section in the
Dutch embassy would be opened on January 15.
The move was in line with an agreement during talks under the
auspices of the UN secretary-general earlier this year.
The diplomatic ties between the two countries were frozen soon
after East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976. (rms)