Subject: Lusa: Alatas says Indonesia vote will not impair Dili, Lisbon
ties
Also: Gen. Wiranto should be tried in
Indonesia, says ex-FM Alatas
East Timor: Ex-Jakarta FM says Indonesia vote will not impair Dili,
Lisbon ties
Lisbon, June 3 (Lusa) - Indonesia`s diplomatic relations with East
Timor and Portugal will continue to develop, irrespective of the result of
Jakarta`s presidential elections next month, former Indonesian foreign
minister Ali Alatas said Thursday.
Alatas, speaking on the margins of a Lisbon conference on Europe-
Southeast Asia relations, said Jakarta's ties with Timor and Portugal
"will not change", whoever becomes Indonesia's leader.
Former Indonesian armed forces commander General Wiranto is running for
president. He is allegedly responsible for war crimes committed in Timor
around the time of its 1999 breakaway from Jakarta.
Indonesia's relations with Timor, which it annexed and occupied after
Portugal`s pullout from its former colony in 1975, "are very good and
improving", noted Alatas.
"Our relation is strong and based on historic, geographic and cultural
reality and cannot change", he said of his country`s ties with its tiny
neighbor.
Earlier, Alatas said Jakarta authorities were investigating Gen.
Wiranto's alleged responsibilities in atrocities committed in Timor and
the former defense minister will likely face trial at home.
Alatas, who negotiated Timor`s independence ballot with Portugal and
the United Nations, said he had no "personal opinion" on last weekend's
meeting between East Timorese President Xanana Gusmão and Wiranto in Bali.
The controversial encounter, where Gusmão and Wiranto embraced for
photographers, took place less than three weeks after a special UN-backed
court in East Timor issued an arrest warrant against Wiranto on charges of
crimes against humanity.
Dili authorities make normalized relations with Indonesia a priority
and indicate they do not plan to act on the arrest warrant
internationally.
East Timor's foreign minister, José Ramos Horta, who was also in
Lisbon, repeated criticism Wednesday of Gusmão's initiative in meeting
Wiranto.
He described the Bali encounter as "imprudent" and badly timed, coming
so soon ahead of Indonesia's July 5 presidential vote in which Wiranto is
a candidate.
Both Alatas and Ramos Horta were in the Portuguese capital on private
visits and to participate in the Europe-Southeast Asia conference.
JHM/SAS/CJB Lusa
--
East Timor: Gen. Wiranto should be tried in
Indonesia, says ex-FM Alatas
Lisbon, June 3 (Lusa) - Indonesian authorities are investigating
General Wiranto's alleged responsibilities in atrocities committed in East
Timor and the former defense minister will likely face trial at home,
Jakarta's former foreign minister, Ali Alatas, has said.
Alatas, speaking to journalists in Lisbon Wednesday after a courtesy
call on Portuguese Foreign Minister Teresa Gouveia, said "an
investigation" was under way into Gen. Wiranto's actions in East Timor
around the time of the territory's 1999 independence plebiscite.
The general, a leading candidate in Indonesia's upcoming presidential
election, would have "to resolve his problem", but should only "answer
before internal justice" in Indonesia, Alatas said.
The former foreign minister, who negotiated the holding of the Timorese
plebiscite with Portugal and the United Nations, said he had no "personal
opinion" on last weekend's meeting between East Timorese President Xanana
Gusmão and Wiranto in Bali.
The controversial meeting, where Gusmão and Wiranto exchanged an
embrace for photographers, took place less than three weeks after a
special UN-backed court in East Timor issued an arrest warrant against
Wiranto on charges of crimes against humanity.
Authorities in Dili, who make normalized relations with Indonesia a
priority, have indicated they did not plan to act on the arrest warrant
internationally.
East Timor's foreign minister, José Ramos Horta, who was also in
Lisbon, repeated criticism Wednesday of Gusmão's initiative in meeting
Wiranto.
He described the Bali encounter as "imprudent" and badly timed, coming
so soon ahead of Indonesia's July 5 presidential vote in which Wiranto is
a candidate.
Both Alatas and Ramos Horta were in the Portuguese capital on private
visits to participate in a conference on relations between Southeast Asia
and Europe.
