WB urges end to W. Timor violence

WB urges end to W. Timor violence

JAKARTA (JP): World Bank President James Wolfensohn urged Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid in a letter last week to halt violence in West Timor but he said nothing about any plans to cut further aid, the bank's country director here Mark Baird said on Tuesday.

Baird said in a statement that Wolfensohn did warn in a Sept.8 letter to Abdurrahman that events in West Timor would have a negative impact on international sentiment towards Indonesia, affecting donor support and investor confidence.

"But contrary to some reports, the World Bank has no plans to cut assistance or delay the Consultative Group on Indonesia creditor meeting (scheduled in Tokyo for next month)," Baird asserted.

The Washington Post was quoted by Reuters on Tuesday as reporting, based on Wolfensohn's letter to Abdurrahman, that the World Bank chief warned the Indonesian President to take concrete steps to end violence in West Timor or risk financial assistance.

"I would ask you to do your utmost to stop the violence before any more innocent lives are lost," the Post quoted Wolfensohn as saying in the letter delivered to Abdurrahman in New York on Friday, just days after three United Nations relief workers were killed by a militia-led mob in western Timor.

The Post described Wolfensohn's letter to Wahid as being unusually political in nature for the World Bank, which has provided billions of dollars in loans to Indonesia and generally focuses on economic policies.

Baird said the World Bank had no plans to revise its support to Indonesia.

"What the letter clearly indicates is that the international community will be looking for early and concrete action to address the situation in West Timor," Baird said.

Baird said Wolfensohn's letter made three key points: the violence must be brought under control; the U.N. must be allowed to resume humanitarian activities; and refugees who wish to return to East Timor should be able to do so.

The 20 countries and agencies that are the biggest donors to the bank's Indonesian programs are due to meet in mid-October.

"I look forward to being able to report to donors at next month's Consultative Group meeting that the violence has ended, that the United Nations has been able to resume its humanitarian activities and that those who want to return home to East Timor are now being allowed to do so in safety," Wolfensohn wrote, according to the Post.

Reminding Wahid that Indonesia still needs financial support and investor confidence, the bank president pointedly added that "this is ... an issue watched closely by the international community."

The United Nations Security Council will send a mission to Indonesia next week to investigate the resurgence of military strikes against U.N. relief workers and Timorese civilians trapped in refugee camps.

The militias, originally organized by the Indonesia army, went on the rampage in East Timor a year ago after the people there voted overwhelmingly for independence from Jakarta. The militia were quelled by Australian-led troops and fled over the border to Indonesian West Timor, herding hundreds of thousands of Timorese with them into refugee camps.

The World Bank has $5.5 billion in outstanding commitments to Indonesia, of which $2.8 billion has not been disbursed. That includes money for 64 specific projects as well as structural adjustment programs that help support the budget and fund social programs.

In fiscal 2000, the World Bank committed itself to an additional $2.74 billion in future loans. Because higher oil prices have boosted Indonesia's revenue, new commitments in fiscal 2001 are expected to be much lower.

When violence broke out in the former Indonesian region of East Timor, now an independent nation, Wolfensohn warned Abdurrahman's predecessor, B.J. Habibie, that he risked losing international financial support if he did not order the Indonesian military to stop the bloodshed.

U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen is traveling to Jakarta next week to convey a similar message.

The deaths last week of the three U.N. workers "raise more questions about why the violence is allowed to continue," the Post quoted Wolfensohn as writing.

Wolfensohn added that despite Abdurrahman's previous assurances, "the situation grows more dangerous and urgent by the day," the Post reported, as quoted by Reuters.