| Subject: WP: Wahid Vows
to Get Timor Refugees Home The
Washington Post November 13, 1999
Wahid Vows to Get Timor Refugees Home Steven Mufson,
Washington Post Staff Writer
Indonesia's newly elected president, Abdurrahman Wahid,
said yesterday he would order Indonesia's air force to fly East Timorese refugees back
home and would pardon the country's toppled leader, Suharto, if the former ruler is found
guilty of corruption.
Wahid met for an hour with President Clinton, who pledged
to support Indonesia's transition to democracy and its economic reforms. Wahid, who is
mostly blind, later flew to Salt Lake City for eye surgery.
Administration officials said Clinton urged Wahid to follow
through on his commitment to return refugees from East Timor, the territory where violence
broke out in early September after a referendum passed in favor of independence. There are
still about 180,000 East Timorese refugees in Indonesian-controlled western Timor,
intimidated by militias backed by the Indonesian military, U.S. officials said.
"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," Wahid said after the meeting.
Wahid also told reporters that his government would stick
to the rule of law and determine whether Suharto is guilty. It is widely believed that in
more than 30 years of rule, the former leader had plundered millions, if not billions, of
dollars for himself and his family.
But in a nod to the Indonesian military that had given
Suharto substantial support, Wahid said he would then pardon Suharto. "Mr. Suharto
still has big followers, so we have to be careful not to, let's say, topple the
cart," Wahid said.
Wahid assured Clinton, as well as officials he met
separately from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, that he would clamp down
on corruption. He recently released a previously secret report regarding improper ties
between a commercial bank, Bank Bali, and the previous ruling party. The IMF and World
Bank, which had suspended talks with Indonesia over the Bank Bali scandal and East Timor
crisis, have restarted negotiations over the next installment of loans to the southeast
Asian archipelago nation.
Wahid also said he would allow a referendum in Aceh, a
region hit by demonstrations for independence. It remained unclear, however, whether Wahid
would allow the referendum to be about independence or merely greater autonomy. He said he
would negotiate to make sure that any referendum could be held peacefully and fairly, but
added, "I think we can resolve that in the next few months."
Clinton, in an effort to quiet suspicions in Indonesia that
the United States is seeking to dismember the country, said, "We support the
territorial integrity of Indonesia."
A senior administration official who attended the meeting
said Wahid also wanted to soothe any anxieties the Clinton administration might have as a
result of his proposal that Asian nations form an "axis" to help one another. He
has advocated closer ties with India and China.
In his meeting with Clinton, Wahid stressed that such an
axis would not be anti-Western and that close ties with the United States were important
to Indonesia. "He does not see it as a zero-sum game," said the Clinton
administration official. "He said clearly that Indonesia will rely heavily on the
West, especially for foreign investment."
------- Indonesia Vice President Megawati to visit W.Timor
DILI, East Timor, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Indonesian Vice
President Megawati Sukarnoputri will visit West Timor this month to investigate the plight
of East Timorese refugees, especially those in pro-Jakarta militia camps, a United Nations
official said on Saturday.
``The Indonesian government is eager to see the end of
this. These people are a burden on the economy of West Timor,'' U.N. assistant emergency
relief co-ordinator Ross Mountain told Reuters.
``The government estimates the relief effort in West Timor
has cost them $15 million.''
Mountain recently returned to Dili from two days of
meetings with senior Indonesian government officials in Jakarta.
``I was very encouraged by the reaction of the new
government ministers and it appears Megawati is going to play a leading role in dealing
with this,'' he said.
The visit by Megawati -- who questioned former President
B.J. Habibie's decision to allow a vote on independence in East Timor -- could come as
early as the end of the coming week, Mountain said. East Timorese voted overwhelmingly to
break away from Indonesia on August 30.
Her visit comes amid increasing reports of harassment and
intimidation by militiamen against many of the estimated 120,000-150,000 refugees still in
West Timor.
Militia groups were also accused of terrorising U.N. staff
and thwarting their efforts to repatriate refugees, particularly those near Atambua, 38 km
(23 miles) inside the border of the Indonesian province of West Timor.
Mountain said he met Megawati, Defence Minister Juwono
Sudarsono and armed forces chief Admiral A.S. Widodo during his visit to Jakarta.
``In essence I spoke to them about the situation in the
west and, while progress and improvements have been made in the area, what we are
particularly concerned about is access to camps,'' Mountain said.
The issue of access to refugees is becoming more critical
by the day due to the onset of the rainy season, which poses many health and sanitation
problems.
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