Annan raises freedom of East Timorese leader with Indonesia

Wed 09 Sep 98 - 20:44 GMT

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 9 (AFP) - UN chief Kofi Annan said Wednesday that he raised the situation of jailed East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao with Indonesia last week.

After briefing the Security Council on the issue, Annan told reporters he had "discussed the situation of Xanana Gusmao" with Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas.

He declined to give details, but UN diplomats said Annan reiterated a call for Gusmao's release. According to the diplomats, Alatas responded that the rebel leader's freedom would come in a "timely" fashion.

Portuguese ambassador Antonio Monteiro said during the closed-door Council discussions with Annan that "timely should mean now."

"Gusmao is not only a symbol, but can deliver things," Monteiro told AFP afterwards.

Gusmao, 52, is serving a 20-year sentence in Jakarta's Cipinang jail for plotting against the Indonesian state and for illegal possession of weapons.

Annan and Alatas met during the non-aligned summit in Durban, South Africa.

The United Nations plans to host new talks between Portugal and Indonesia in the coming weeks to discuss autonomy proposals for the former Portuguese territory annexed by Jakarta in 1976.

Broader talks involving East Timorese factions are expected to take place in Austria later this month.

Annan said he discussed with Alatas "all aspects of the process," including the need for the Indonesian authorities to continue the release of political prisoners, and the withdrawal of troops from East Timor.

Earlier Wednesday, five former political parties in East Timor announced the formation of a new national organisation and named Gusmao to head it.

A communique circulated here announced the establishment of the group -- the National Council of Resistance of the People of East Timor -- by the five parties that existed in the former Portuguese colony before the Indonesian annexation.

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