| Subject: SMH: Indon air
force to fly East Timorese refugees home Sydney
Morning Herald Monday, November 15, 1999
Air force to fly East Timorese refugees home
By STEVEN MUFSON
Indonesia's President, Mr Abdurrahman Wahid, has told the
United States President, Mr Bill Clinton, he will order Indonesia's air force to fly East
Timorese refugees home from West Timor, where human rights groups allege many are being
intimidated and abused by militias.
Mr Wahid met for an hour with Mr Clinton, who said the US
was willing to open talks aimed at resuming military ties between the two nations.
The US severed military links after Indonesian soldiers
were accused of orchestrating the violence that followed East Timor's overwhelming vote
for independence.
Mr Clinton pledged to support Indonesia's transition to
democracy and its economic reforms.
He praised Mr Wahid, who was elected last month in the most
democratic balloting seen in Indonesia, and said his election would lead to efforts ''to
strengthen our relationship, including the issue of military-to-military ties''.
After his meeting with Mr Clinton, Mr Wahid flew to Salt
Lake City for eye surgery.
US Administration officials said Mr Clinton urged Mr Wahid
to follow through on his commitment to return refugees from East Timor, where violence
broke out in early September after people voted overwhelmingly for independence.
More than 200,000 East Timorese refugees are believed to
still be in in Indonesian-controlled West Timor, many of them intimidated by militias
backed by the Indonesian military.
''I assure President Clinton ... that in East Timor we will
work very hard to ensure that the refugees from our side of Timor will go freely to their
places,'' Mr Wahid said after the meeting.
He repeated that his Government would stick to the rule of
law and determine whether former president Soeharto, widely believed to have plundered
billions of dollars for himself and his family in more than 30 years of rule, is guilty.
But in a nod to the Indonesian military where Mr Soeharto
had substantial support, Mr Wahid also repeated that he would pardon Mr Soeharto if he was
found guilty.
''Mr Soeharto still has big followers, so we have to be
careful not to, let's say, topple the cart,'' he said.
Mr Wahid assured Mr Clinton as well as officials he saw
separately from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank that he would clamp down on
corruption.
He also said he would allow a referendum in the northern
province of Aceh, where up to a million people rallied last week for independence.
It remained unclear, however, whether Mr Wahid would allow
the referendum to be about independence or merely greater autonomy.
He said he would negotiate to make sure any referendum
could be held peacefully and fairly, but added: ''I think we can resolve that in the next
few months.''
Indonesia's Attorney-General said yesterday that he had
been asked by Mr Wahid to investigate corruption allegations involving three ministers.
Mr Marzuki Darusman declined to name the ministers and said
he was ''still investigating the cases''.
- The Washington Post, New York Times and agencies
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