EAST TIMOR: U.N. Steps Up Efforts to Find Solution

By Farhan Haq Reprint | | Print |

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 13 1998 (IPS) - U.N. officials are intensifying negotiations with Indonesia and Portugal on the future of East Timor amid reports of new clashes and wide-scale demonstrations in Dili, the capital of the disputed territory..

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced Tuesday that his special envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, would intensify consultations with Timorese leaders and voiced concern at “reports of armed clashes in the territory”.

Annan also was disturbed by comments made recently by local Timorese officials – an apparent reference to the warning by the region’s Indonesia-backed governor, Abilio Soares, that he would fire any public servants who supported East Timor’s independence movement.

The comments sparked three days of mass protests in Dili, capped by a demonstration Monday when some 25,000 people called for independence and blocked the town centre and airport road, as well as Soares’s home.

Reports of fighting between Indonesian troops and pro- independence forces in the countryside, meanwshile, sparked worries among U.N. officials that the recent progress in East Timor’s peace process – including a promised reduction of Indonesian troops there – may be in danger.

“It is incumbent on all parties concerned to avoid taking steps that could jeopardise or unnecessarily complicate the delicate efforts to find a just settlement to this long-running dispute,” said U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard. “(Annan) calls for a cessation of all military activity and for a substantial reduction of the Indonesian military presence on the territory.”

Following the May ouster of Indonesia’s longtime dictator, Suharto, the new President Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie promised autonomy for East Timor – which Jakarta invaded in 1975 and annexed in 1976. The United Nations, refusing to recognize the annexation, brokered talks between Indonesia and Portugal, the territory’s former colonial power, which now supports the island state’s self-determination.

As part of the promise to improve the dismal human rights situation in East Timor, Habibie pledged to reduce Indonesian troop strength there, and some 1,000 soldiers were sent home in widely-publicised withdrawals. But some Timorese leaders – including the independence movement’s jailed president, Xanana Gusmao – have disputed the idea that there has been any significant troop reduction.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do not believe it,” Gusmao said in a September speech dispatched to aides from prison in Indonesia. “It is a false claim which is completely in line with similar false claims that have been made by Indonesia since 1980 … Since the filming of this thousand-strong troop withdrawal, a total of 3,500 troops have taken their place.”

Gusmao argued that Jakarta is planning new offensives even as its representatives continue to negotiate under U.N. auspices.

There are signs that Indonesia’s strong military presence is being bolstered. On Monday, Indonesia announced that four mobile police brigades had been sent to East Timor and would remain there for at least one year. Several rights groups and media reports have spoken of a rise in attacks on pro-independence Timorese and on the independence movement’s armed wing, FALINTIL, in recent days.

At the same time, however, Lisbon and Jakarta have made some cautious progress in their talks at the United Nations. Following the latest round this month, Marker said that the two nations might establish interest sections in each other’s capitals by January. Portugal will use the Netherlands’ mission in Jakarta for its diplomatic and commercial interests and Indonesia will use Thailand’s embassy in Lisbon.

Progress on Indonesia’s autonomy offer – which Jakarta has stressed will not include any referendum on Timorese self- determination – has been much slower. Marker said that further consultations on a U.N. peace proposal are being planned for New York on Nov. 19-21.

“I’m very satisfied with the progress that has so far been achieved,” Marker said after the talks concluded. “We have a great deal to do as yet and a long way to go, but the willingness to find a compromise and the atmosphere in the negotiations is very positive.”

By contrast, the mood on the ground in Dili – which was caught up in the euphoria following Suharto’s fall – has become bleak in recent days as early promises of a possible change have failed to materialise, according to reports from the area. The sour atmosphere included both the protests against Soares, accused of nepotism and corruption, in the Dili protests and reported attacks on protest coordinators in recent days.

Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo of Dili, a Nobel Peace Prize co- winner, called for calm following the demonstrations, asking residents to refrain from “destructive actions” and to respect private property and public utilities, according to Indonesia’s state-owned news agency, Antara.

Annan Tuesday praised Belo for his efforts “to foster tolerance and peace.”