Mozambique's Chissano receives East Timorese delegation in Maputo

Source: Radio Mozambique Antena Nacional, Maputo, in Portuguese 1730 gmt 6 Nov 01

6 November BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Nov 7, 2001

Text of report by Radio Mozambique on 6 November

In Maputo today, President Joaquim Chissano received an East Timorese delegation headed by Mari Alkatiri. It was a meeting of old comrades. Like so many other of his compatriots, Mari Alkatiri lived and studied in Mozambique for a great many years, following Indonesia's invasion and annexation of his country in 1975. With the details of the meeting, here is Faustino Igreja:

[Igreja - recording] The meeting lasted for about two hours. President Joaquim Chissano and Mari Alkatiri, the prime minister of East Timor's second transitional government, led the respective delegations. Speaking at the end of the talks, President Chissano said that Alkatiri had briefed him on the latest developments in East Timor, notably the establishment of a constituent assembly and the activities leading up to the territory's independence on 20 May 2002.

[Chissano] We have discussed East Timor's needs during the transition to independence, and the possibility of cooperating in the political, diplomatic, economic, and social fields. Mozambique has hailed Fretilin's [Revolutionary Front for East Timor Independence] victory and the formation of a coalition government. Similarly, we hailed the prevailing stability in East Timor. We are confident of a smooth transition to independence.

Mozambique will continue to show utmost solidarity with East Timor. We have not promised any assistance because we are faced with a reconstruction programme, which includes the introduction of a variety of reforms. We believe we could share Mozambique's experience with our East Timorese brothers.

[Igreja] Mari Alkatiri told correspondents that he had come to Mozambique to learn from Frelimo's [Mozambique Liberation Front] experience since the country became independent in 1975.

[Alkatiri] We are friends, brothers, and comrades. We have had a very useful experience in Mozambique, where we lived for about 24 years. It has helped us to organize things in East Timor. We have learned from the positive and negative developments in Mozambique, but we still have to learn more. We would like to share our experience with other East Timorese that were not as lucky as we were in living in exile in a country under reconstruction.

We have come here to exchange views and recall our stay in Mozambique so as to avoid making at home the same mistakes that were made here. Fundamentally, we would like to learn from the positive developments that have taken place in Mozambique.

[Igreja] Mari Alkatiri said East Timor would like to share Mozambique's solidarity, notably in the health and education sectors, as well as in the establishment of public institutions. [End of recording]

The East Timorese delegation will stay in the country for a week.

Source: Radio Mozambique Antena Nacional, Maputo, in Portuguese 1730 gmt 6 Nov 01

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC

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