UN 'not consulted' over change to East Timor vote

UN 'not consulted' over change to East Timor vote

JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations (UN) was "not consulted" on
the change of date for a referendum on the future of East Timor
already announced by the Indonesian government, a UN spokesman
said on Friday (Saturday, Jakarta time) from UN headquarters in
New York.

"We were not consulted," spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva
told a news briefing on Jakarta's announcement that the ballot
would be brought forward by one day, from Aug. 8 to Aug. 7.

The changing of the date of the vote was announced by
Minister/ State Secretary Muladi on Friday (Jakarta time).

According to the minister, the change was made based on a
request by Catholic church leaders in the predominantly Catholic
province because Aug. 8 "is a day off and it's Sunday".

Muladi's announcement did not only stun foreign parties.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas was surprised about the
change of the East Timor voting day.

"The government has not yet discussed, nor even set the date
(to change)," Alatas was quoted by Kompas as saying here on
Saturday.

De Almeida e Silva said that "we continue our work based on
the original agreement" signed here by Indonesia and Portugal on
May 5, AFP reported.

The ballot, which would be conducted under high-profile direct
supervision of UN officials, is aimed at allowing the 800,000
East Timorese to choose either their land to remain a part of
Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or to be an independent
country.

UN officials were clearly taken aback by the announcement,
which is being described at its New York headquarters as absurd
and irresponsible.

Portugal announced that Lisbon would press Jakarta to revoke
its decision to change the date.

Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama said in Macau the
original Aug. 8 date was "fixed by an international agreement
signed by Indonesia and international agreements cannot be
changed unilaterally."

Dud notes

From Sydney, a Catholic priest just returned from East Timor
claimed on Saturday that Indonesian troops in the former
Portuguese colony were paying pro-Jakarta militias with
counterfeit banknotes.

Father Antonio Alves, who ministers to Sydney's East Timorese
community, showed reporters rupiah banknotes bearing the same
serial numbers, DPA reported.

He said militia members were receiving the dud currency for
their role in fomenting violence ahead of the Aug. 8 vote.

The circulation of fake banknotes is becoming more common in
Indonesia, which has been badly hit by an economic crisis and
political uncertainties since mid 1997.

Andrew McNaughtan, a campaigner for East Timor independence
and the convener of the nongovernment Australia-East Timor
Association, said the forgeries were proof that Jakarta had a
hand in guiding militiamen responsible for scores of deaths in
recent weeks.

"The Indonesians are supposed to have disarmed the militias by
now and stopped the violence," McNaughtan told The Australian
newspaper.

"Instead they are funding a covert war and either they're
unwilling to find the money to pay for it or they have run out of
money."

McNaughtan urged the International Monetary Fund, the
organizer of a billion-dollar bailout package for Jakarta, to
investigate the claims of counterfeiting.

In another related development on Saturday, Japan urged
Jakarta to create a more conducive atmosphere in East Timor for
the success of the direct ballot, emphasizing that the country's
decision to join a UN civilian team would depend much on the
security situation there.

"The situation in the former Portuguese colony is not
conducive for the direct ballot," Antara quoted Japanese
Ambassador Takao Kawakami as saying after meeting with East Timor
Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares in Dili.

Kawakami said his government's decision to send a special team
to East Timor would depend much on the report of the 15-member
Japanese delegation which recently visited East Timor.

President B.J. Habibie has invited several countries,
including the U.S., Germany, Japan and the Philippines to send
civilian contingents to supervise the scheduled direct ballot.

The UN Human Rights Commission's Soli Jahangir Sorabjee also
conveyed the same concern to Soares during a separate meeting.

The governor, however, told Sorabjee the presence of
prointegration militias was not just to defend Indonesia's
interest in the vote as the armed groups have been operating
there since the province joined Indonesia in 1976.

"The Indonesian government has been entrusted to create a
peaceful condition in East Timor. It's our responsibility to the
world and to the East Timorese," the governor said in reaction to
Sorabjee's call. (prb/bsr)