Timor's Ramos Horta says unable to back Irian Jaya secession claim BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jun 7, 2001

The East Timorese leader [currently cabinet member for foreign affairs] Jose Ramos Horta says his country cannot support the claim to secession by the Papuans in Indonesia's Irian Jaya Province. Mr Ramos Horta, who won the Nobel Peace Prize three years before East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia, says East Timor cannot support every secession claim in the region...

Mr Ramos Horta says he disapproves of the methods that continue to be used by the Indonesians against dissenting minorities.

[Ramos Horta] While we abhor what is being done to the West Papuans, to the Acehnese, while we are perplexed at the inability of the Indonesian side to address the root cause of the unhappiness and rebellion in West Papua and Aceh, we must also say that we cannot as a small nation in the making go around and endorse every secession claim in the region or anywhere in the world.

Source: Radio New Zealand International audio web site, Wellington, in English 0459 gmt 7 Jun 01

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