Vatican memo has no legal meaning: Observers

JAKARTA (JP): The Vatican memo referring to East Timor as the 27th Indonesian province sparked a controversy among political observers and legal experts here yesterday.

Some said the memo meant nothing legally and politically while others believed it would let Indonesia score political points over Portugal in diplomacy on the East Timor issue. They suggested that it is yet to be checked with Vatican if the note really existed.

Yasin Tasrief of Diponegoro University in Semarang said that as the Vatican was not a nation state, the statement was only useful in improving relations between Indonesia and the Holy See.

The international community would only recognize East Timor as part of Indonesia when the UN acknowledged it, he said.

"The UN has not recognized East Timor's integration into Indonesia. Our diplomats still have to work hard to make the world body change its stance," he said.

The Dec. 18 memo, which refers to East Timor as the "27th Indonesian province," sparked controversy in Lisbon, where the papal nuncio was summoned to the foreign ministry.

The Vatican press service note was issued Dec. 18 to announce the ordination of a second Catholic bishop for the former Portuguese colony, Monsignor Basilio do Nascimento.

It states the "former Portuguese colony was integrated into the Republic of Indonesia on July 17, 1976, thus becoming the 27th province of Indonesia," contradicting the Vatican's previous legal and political stance.

The envoy, Edoardo Rovida, reportedly told the ministry that the Vatican note had "no official value," and said the two East Timor dioceses would remain directly attached to the Holy See "as long as no solution has been found to the East Timor problem."

Portuguese diplomats considered the Vatican note more than a simple error, and instead "a clever maneuver by the Vatican to move closer to Jakarta."

But Vatican ambassador to Indonesia Mgr. Pietro Sambi was quoted by Antara as saying yesterday that there was no such memo recognizing East Timor as part of Indonesia.

According to Sambi, the disputed document did not mention any Indonesian province. It only discusses the appointment of Mgr. Basilio as the Baucau bishop.

Political observer Hasnan Habib believed the memo could not be considered a reflection of the Vatican's official stance on East Timor.

It was unlikely, he argued, the Vatican would announce its official position on the issue since it was not a member of the UN and many other nations have not recognized East Timor as part of Indonesia.

M. Budyatna, a political observer from the University of Indonesia, said Indonesian diplomats could use the Vatican memo to strengthen their position on the East Timor issue.

"The memo is more valuable than the Nobel Peace Prize that (self-exiled separatist leader) Ramos Horta uses to score points in his anti-integration campaigns," Budyatna was quoted as saying by Antara.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas had predicted Jakarta's handling of the East Timor issue would face more hurdles, especially because Horta would use his Nobel Peace Prize to score.

Budyatna said the memo was a "better card" than the Nobel prize because the Vatican was more respectable, since the majority of the East Timorese population was Roman Catholic.

"If it's true the Vatican has issued the memo, albeit unofficially, it would be respected by all Catholic believers. Who would dare to oppose the Pope?" he asked.

Foreign ministry spokesman Gaffar Fadyl said the memo was something "natural" which suggested both the Vatican and the Portuguese press recognized there was an integration process in East Timor.

"So far the Portuguese press uses the term "annexation" to describe the East Timor integration into Indonesia," he said.

Indonesian ambassador to the Vatican Irawan Abidin said he would seek first hand information on the disputed memo. (har/pan)