---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- Antara, 17 Juni 1999 Spanish Envoy Voices Hope of Peaceful Settlement Dili, E Timor, June 16 (ANTARA) - Spanish Ambassador to Indonesia Antonio Saqura Moris has expressed hope that the East Timor issue will eventually be settled peacefully. Col Tono Suratman, commander of the East Timor military region, said the Spanish envoy voiced the sentiment at a one-hour meeting with him here Tuesday. Suratman quoted Moris as saying that all conflicting parties in the province should be able to restrain themselves and put the people's interest above their own. The commander and the ambassador at their meeting discussed various issues, including the latest situation in East Timor and the arrival of a Spanish police contingent as part of a U.N. civilian police group in East Timor. Moris, who arrived in Dili Tuesday (June 15), told Suratman he had the impression the situation in Dili was quite calm and hoped this was an indicator of security situation throughout the province. During the meeting, the envoy also touched on the direct ballot in which the East Timorese people would decide their own future by accepting or rejecting the wide-ranging autonomy package offered by the Indonesian government. Suratman told the envoy that certain groups in the province appeared to be behind a movement to foil the direct ballot scheduled for August 8. "Recently they launched a campaign of intimidation, terror, kidnappings and killings in the hope the situation will become so chaotic that the ballot cannot be held," he said. But Suratman said he had called on the public in the province to remain optimistic that the ballot would take place as scheduled although certain parties were trying to forment trouble. On the government's effort to familiarize the East Timor public with the wide-ranging autonomy package, Suratman said it was a legitimate activity because the people needed to have a clear understanding of what the package contained. "It is not wrong as long as it is not a campaign," Suratman said. He said the East Timor public had a right to know what was agreed on by the United Nations, the Portuguese and Indonesian government in New York last May 5. "People in East Timor live in conditions different from those in other regions. They need detailed explanations," Suratman said. (U/DLI-01/NN-06/18:27/INT-AJM-22:20/ri2/22:31/TB03) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 21 Jun 1999 jam 12:40:54 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
