Xanana to arrive in Jakarta on July 2

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Xanana Gusmao of the newly established state of East Timor is scheduled to arrive here on July 2 for a three-day state visit to Indonesia, the second country he will have visited after the former 27th province of Indonesia achieved full independence.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director for Media Relations Wahid Supriyadi said on Thursday that his directorate was still arranging the schedule for the visit.

"President Xanana is scheduled to arrive on July 2, but we are still setting the schedule," Wahid told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

An official from the presidential office confirmed Wahid's statement, saying that President Xanana would meet President Megawati Soekarnoputri upon his arrival.

The visit was originally scheduled for May 25, five days after the tiny, former Portuguese colony declared independence, but was delayed due to Megawati's tight schedule.

The delay meant that Xanana first visited Australia instead.

The Antara news agency reported that Xanana would bring a full complement of East Timorese government officials to discuss a wide range of issues with their Indonesian counterparts, especially lingering issues such as East Timorese refugees in West Timor and Indonesia's putative assets in East Timor.

Indonesia sent a strong team of ministers to Dili in mid-June, on which occasion both sides agreed to establish a joint forum to discuss these issues, as well as bilateral trade.

The two sides also agreed that they would finalize discussions on the establishment of a joint committee during Xanana's state visit to Jakarta.

Indonesia has expressed the desire to boost trade with Dili as the newly-established country is entirely surrounded by Indonesia.

The visit will mark a new beginning for relations between the two countries, and is considered an expression of East Timor's desire to put Jakarta on its list of priorities.

Xanana, who spent seven years languishing in an Indonesian jail, has repeatedly said that he will maintain good relations with Jakarta, citing emotional ties between the citizens of the two countries.