---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://click.indo-news.com/cgi-indo-news/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- ALI ALATAS HAS REFUSED TO ALLOW RECONCILIATION MEETING IN AUSTRALIA Jakarta, Solid-Net (24/5) Translated by TAPOL A reconciliation meeting which was scheduled to take place in Australia has officially been rejected by Foreign Minister Ali Alatas. Speaking at a press conference in Jakarta today, Alatas said that Australia was not a neutral venue for such a meeting because of the huge concentration of anti-integration East Timorese in the country. This is the second rejection from Indonesia regarding this reconciliation meeting. Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah had previously turned down plans for this meeting to take place which should have also been attended by Bishop Belo and Xanana Gusmao. Alatas also announced that a team of 600 UN personnel will arrive in Dili in mid June. The UN mission will be headed by Ian Martin, who has extensive experience in work of this kind. The Mission will set up 200 registration centres and 700 polling booths. Registration of voters will commence on 13 June. Indonesia and Portugal will each send monitoring teams of twenty persons. [Note from TAPOL: The Reconciliation Meeting being obstructed by Jakarta is intended to lay the grounds for agreement between the pro-independence and pro-integration forces in order to bring an end to the cycle of violence in East Timor. This is being referred to as Dare-II, the follow-up of a reconciliation meeting held in September last year in Dare, East Timor. The Meeting was to have taken place in Australia from 22 to 29 May. In face of obstruction from Alatas, the venue has been shifted to Jakarta and is scheduled to open on 14 June. However, although Xanana sought and obtained the agreement of the government, through Information Minister Yunus Yosfiah, for East Timorese in the diaspora, Jose Ramos-Horta, Mari Alkatiri and Joao Carrascalao to attend, this consent has reportedly been revoked. Nor is it clear that Xanana Gusmao will be permitted to attend.] ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 25 May 1999 jam 15:08:31 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
