Xanana rejects Bali meeting on E. Timor

JAKARTA (Agencies): Jailed East Timorese separatist leader Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao on Wednesday wrote off emergency talks between Australia and Indonesia on his troubled homeland, saying they produced little of significance.

His statement coincided with the United States' welcome of President B.J. Habibie's acceptance of a United Nations-brokered autonomy deal for East Timor. A senior U.S. official was quoted by AFP as saying Washington wanted to play "an active and positive role".

But the official, who asked not to be named, also regretted continuing violence against civilians in the province by unrestrained militia groups opposed to East Timor autonomy.

In Jakarta, Gusmao said through his lawyer he was disappointed Australian Prime Minister John Howard did not draw attention to massacres this month by pro-Indonesia militia. Gusmao cited killings in the East Timor capital of Dili and the town of Liquica in the statement, issued by lawyer Hendardi.

The talks between Howard and Habibie took place on the resort island of Bali on Tuesday.

"There is no new significant thing arising from the two national leaders' talks," the statement said. The only news from the meeting was the setting of August 8 as the date for an autonomy ballot and a commitment by Australia on financial and medical aid.

Gusmao said Indonesia should formally accept the UN-brokered deal with Portugal as soon as possible. The deal includes the presence of foreign police in the troubled territory.

Indonesia said on April 24 it had agreed to the plan and Habibie said on Tuesday he had accepted the draft without any changes. But it is not due to be ratified by the Cabinet until May 5.

"The delay from April 24 to May 5 opens up the possibility for the militia to carry out political mobilization, intimidation, threats and terror," Xanana said.

Washington, however, said: "We welcome President Habibie's April 27 announcement that he accepts without change the UN- brokered autonomy package for East Timor and (that the signing will take place)... on May 5."

The U.S. official called the decision an "important step toward clearing the way for the UN direct ballot consultation process with the East Timorese on August 8", and urged the "immediate establishment" of a UN presence in the province and called for unimpeded access for aid groups working in East Timor.

"The United States wishes to play an active and positive role in support of the UN process. We are discussing the specific ways in which the U.S. will assist. No final decisions have been made," the official said.

Washington remains deeply troubled, however, by reports of continuing violence by militia groups against Timorese civilians, and urges the Indonesian authorities to restrain and disarm the militia, he said.

In Dili, the capital of East Timor, an activist from the Hak Foundation, Joaquim Fonceha, said while he still believed in the commitment of the Indonesian government in complying with the UN agreements, "a very strong faction of the military" was designing a strategy to give the impression that a direct ballot would lead East Timor to civil war.

Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares and East Timor Military Commander Col. Tono Suratman separately told visiting British Junior Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett they preferred a direct ballot not be held for fear of further unrest.

Meanwhile, a law expert from the Netherlands said here on Wednesday the people of East Timor were entitled to three, rather than two, options under the United Nations-sponsored ballot in August.

James L. Janssen van Raay told The Jakarta Post that under international law, the East Timorese could opt to integrate with Indonesia, becoming an independent state or remain under the colonial rule of Portugal.

"This means that if the people in East Timor chose to remain under Portugal's administration, the half-island area could become part of the European Union through Portugal's participation in the common market," Raay said.

The people of East Timor should be given and informed of the three options and not just the two choices -- integration with Indonesia with wide-ranging autonomy or independence -- stipulated in the UN agreements, he said.

Raay, who was born on Bangka Island in Indonesia in 1932, is the secretary-general of the Indonesian Friendship Association in the European Parliament.

He is here for a week-long visit to gather information on the latest situation in the country. He will report his findings to the plenary session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, next week.

The Dutch lawyer cited several Dutch and French colonies, mostly small islands such as the Antilles in the Bahamas and Saint Martin Island, which chose to remain under the rule of their colonial powers.

Now that the UN has been involved in the East Timor process, Indonesia can no longer claim the matter is purely an internal affair, he said. If this was simply an internal affair the ballot should be supervised by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Raay added.

"UN participation practically makes the East Timorese a colonized people who therefore should be subject to the decolonization law which is part of international law under the UN," Raay said.

Raay said experiences from past decolonizations showed most colonies which were small islands or small areas of land chose to become part of a bigger state or remain under their colonial rulers because of the difficulty of economic survival as an independent state. (vin/anr)