Yogyakarta-educated priest becomes E. Timor's first ambassador to RI

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

East Timor's first ambassador to Indonesia, Protestant minister Arlindo Marcal, presented his credentials to President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Friday.

Arlindo, who earned his master's in theology from Duta Wacana University in Yogyakarta in 1987, presented his credentials to the President during a simple ceremony at the Merdeka Palace.

Accompanying the President was Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda.

"The government appreciates his (Arlindo) appointment as he is close to many Indonesian government officials," Hassan said after the ceremony.

Hassan also noted that Arlindo's appointment as ambassador could be seen as "a sign of pluralism in the predominantly Catholic country".

The foreign minister said he was confident Arlindo would have good relations with Indonesian officials, because after studying for years in Java he spoke fluent Bahasa Indonesia and "maybe he speaks Javanese as well".

East Timor separated from Indonesia in 1999 when a wide majority of East Timorese cast their vote for independence during a UN-sponsored ballot. In the presence of a number of world leaders, including former U.S. president Bill Clinton and Megawati, East Timor declared its independence as a republic state on May. 20, 2002, with Dili as its capital.

The East Timor Embassy is located in the Surya Building on Jl. Thamrin in Central Jakarta.

Jakarta and Dili have set up a team to deal with the question of Indonesian assets in East Timor, and to seek possible bilateral cooperation between the two countries in all fields.

"We are planning to hold a second consultation meeting immediately with Dili and Canberra to solve the remaining problems between East Timor and Indonesia and Australia. A number of the problems were solved in the previous meeting," Hassan said.

When asked about how soon it would be before Indonesia sent an ambassador to East Timor, Hassan said the government was waiting for political support from the House of Representatives.

The Indonesian government has responded positively to Dili's stated intention to invite Indonesian businesspeople to invest in East Timor.