---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- World Socialist 23 July 1999 US and World Bank threaten Indonesia over Timor By Mike Head The United States and the World Bank have both threatened Indonesia with=20 diplomatic and financial retaliation if the Jakarta regime continues to=20 support militia attacks on people in East Timor, in the lead-up to next=20 month's scheduled UN-supervised ballot on autonomy or secession. The threats=20 from Washington underscore the critical economic and strategic interests at=20 issue in the former Portuguese colony and throughout the entire Indonesian=20 archipelago. Stanley Roth, the US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific=20 Affairs, spent two days in Jakarta late last week before touring East Timor=20 for three days=97becoming the most senior US official to visit the island.=20 Speaking in Jakarta after meetings with Indonesian President Habibie and=20 other political figures, Roth warned that if the UN ballot were derailed by=20 security problems, =93that obviously will have consequences and affect=20 relations with a number of countries around the world=97including my own". As well as talks with Habibie, Defence Minister and armed forces chief,=20 General Wiranto and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, Roth met opposition leaders= ,=20 including Megawati Sukarnoputri. Roth said he was now confident that she=20 would accept the outcome of the UN ballot, a process that she stridently=20 opposed during the June elections in Indonesia. Roth also made a point of spending an hour with Xanana Gusmao, the jailed=20 president of the East Timorese independence coalition, the East Timorese=20 National Resistance Council (CNRT). Over the past two years, Roth has held=20 several discussions with Gusmao, who aspires to lead an East Timorese=20 administration under UN supervision. On arrival in Dili, the East Timorese capital, the next day, Roth reiterated=20 his warning. Accompanied by the US Ambassador to Indonesia, Stapelton Roy,=20 Roth said: =93The United States has been very clear, as have some other=20 countries and UNAMET, in expressing concerns about militia violence and wher= e=20 they've gotten their support from. I think I made clear yesterday the fact=20 that there was significant evidence that elements of the military have been=20 supporting some of the militia groups, and that that was a large contributio= n=20 to the lack of security.=94 An even more blunt threat came from the World Bank. Its representative in=20 Indonesia warned on Wednesday that the bank and international donors could=20 cut off funds to Indonesia if the UN ballot were disrupted. =93I certainly=20 understand from a number of donors that they share a strong interest in=20 ensuring that the UN process in Timor proceeds smoothly, and that there is a=20 peaceful election in East Timor,=94 Mark Baird, World Bank country director = for=20 Indonesia, told a news conference in Jakarta. Member countries of the Consultative Group for Indonesia are due to meet in=20 Paris on July 27 and 28 to discuss loans for Indonesia. The World Bank said=20 they were expected to pledge $5.5 billion to $6 billion to plug Indonesia's=20 budget gap in the current financial year. =93I'm sure the situation could be=20 different if there was a change in the situation in East Timor, and I'm sure=20 donors will be watching that very closely,=94 Baird said. While Roth was still in Jakarta last Friday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan=20 announced that voter registration would commence that day for the ballot to=20 be held on August 21 or 22. Annan, who had earlier postponed the voting, sai= d=20 he would again review the situation midway through the three-week=20 registration process. This week he stepped up the pressure on Jakarta,=20 declaring that militias were still posing a fundamental challenge to the vot= e. Various other powers have raised the stake in the Timor conflict in recent=20 days, including Portugal, Britain, Japan and Australia. Portugal's Foreign Minister warned Indonesia not to make the ballot a farce.=20 Senior officials from Lisbon were due to meet Indonesian representatives at=20 the UN this Thursday to discuss the number of Portuguese and Indonesian=20 monitors for the poll and also what would happen after the ballot. Under the=20 UN plan, if the Indonesian autonomy scheme is rejected, East Timor will=20 revert to Portuguese sovereignty, to be governed by a non-elected interim UN=20 administration. Britain sent a protest to Indonesia on Tuesday about the use of=20 British-supplied war planes in East Timor and continuing violence by=20 pro-Jakarta militias. The Blair government's move followed reports that a=20 British-made Hawk jet belonging to the Indonesian air force swooped over Dil= i=20 last Thursday in a show of force. The British Labour government has=20 previously refused to halt the supply of 16 Hawk jets to the Indonesian=20 military. Japan, the largest single provider of aid programs in Indonesia, moved to=20 reinforce its interests in the region. Its foreign minister, Masahiko Komura= ,=20 announced a visit to Indonesia later this month, where he would raise the=20 Timor issue with Habibie. Not to be left behind, the Howard government in Australia said on Tuesday=20 that Foreign Minister Alexander Downer would visit Indonesia and East Timor=20 on July 30 and 31, becoming the first Australian minister to set foot on the=20 island since it was invaded by Indonesia with Australia's connivance in 1975= .=20 Downer announced his trip in a speech to the Indonesian Business Forum in=20 Melbourne. Military preparations Canberra has also prepared for possible military intervention, under the=20 pretext of protecting Australian diplomatic staff or police serving under UN=20 command. Unnamed military and diplomatic sources told the Melbourne Age this=20 week that Australia's elite Special Air Services (SAS) was on standby in the=20 northern Australian city of Darwin, just 600 kilometres from Dili. Moreover,=20 the sources indicated, the SAS had already been engaged in on-ground=20 reconnaissance in East Timor. Ironically, the sources expressed the hope tha= t=20 Indonesia might be favourably disposed to SAS personnel entering the island=20 because of past joint training exercises between the SAS and Indonesia's own=20 special forces, Kopassus. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Howard confirmed that thousands of troops=20 were on alert to move into East Timor, if asked by the UN. The government ha= s=20 completed the formation of a 3,000-strong Brigade that is on 28-day alert in=20 Darwin, with another Brigade on the same alert in Townsville, also in=20 northern Australia. This Wednesday, the Indonesian regime responded by accusing Australia of=20 interfering in Indonesia's internal affairs and of seeking to dominate East=20 Timor. =93Australia cannot act as a godfather ... We reject Australian=20 intervention,=94 one of Habibie's advisers, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, told the=20 Jakarta Post. Anwar also denounced Canberra for the publication in Australian newspapers o= f=20 an apparently leaked secret Indonesian report canvassing the prospect of a=20 secessionist victory in the UN ballot. The document speaks of Indonesia=20 losing the effort to =93win the hearts of the people=94. It calls for greate= r=20 Indonesian resources to "empower" the pro-integrationist militias, speaking=20 of the necessity for =93a new injection of strength=94. The report is dated July 3 and signed by H. R. Garnadi, special assistant to=20 General Feisel Tandjung, who is Co-ordinating Minister of Politics and=20 Security/Internal Political Affairs and a previous armed forces chief. It describes the militias=97who have killed more than 100 people since=20 January=97as the =93heroes of integration=94. It also forecasts a bloody pay= back by=20 pro-independence Falintil guerillas if the vote goes against Indonesia. =93I= n=20 such a case, the Indonesian government will not be able to wash its hands of=20 the problem, if later the integration forces are butchered." This could=20 become the pretext for instigating a bloodbath, as the generals did in=20 Suharto's 1965-66 coup and again following the 1975 Timor invasion. The Indonesian regime, which is still essentially run by the military, is=20 determined to cling to its rule and substantial business investments in East=20 Timor. This was further demonstrated when General Wiranto and 15 other=20 government ministers=97half of Habibie's cabinet=97visited the island last w= eek,=20 ostensibly to show their commitment to a fair ballot. Information Minister=20 General Yunus Yosfiah warned Indonesian civil servants working in the=20 territory that they would be sacked if they supported independence. Yosfiah,=20 a former military commander in East Timor, was quoted by the official Antara=20 news agency as saying: =93If a civil servant from the provincial ministry is=20 pro-independence ... that person should be terminated from the civil service= .=94 Aid agencies report that the militia terror is worsening. They estimate that=20 60,000 people have been forced to flee their homes, which have often been=20 torched or ransacked by pro-integration militias. Most are living in terribl= e=20 conditions, lacking proper shelter, food, clothing, sanitation and medical=20 services. Malaria, dysentery, TB, diarrhoea, scabies and infected sores=20 caused by malnutrition are rife. Militias have blocked UN-backed relief=20 convoys seeking to deliver food and medicine to refugees. Another 11,000 refugees are in Dili, unable to return to their villages to=20 register for the ballot. And according to one report, 9,000 refugees have=20 disappeared after fleeing from Liquica, 40 km west of Dili. =93This is a maj= or=20 hostage crisis,=94 an Australian aid worker said. =93They call them internal= ly=20 displaced persons but they are hostages to the militias. They have been told=20 that if they vote for independence, they will be killed.=94 Timor leaders woo corporate investors In the face of this humanitarian catastrophe, the leaders of the secessionis= t=20 CNRT are urging the Timorese people to remain passive and place their faith=20 in the Western powers and the UN. They are also becoming more open in their=20 support for the US, Portugal and Australia, as well as the transnational=20 corporations that control the huge oil and gas reserves off the Timorese=20 coast. Speaking to the National Press Club in Canberra on July 13, the CNRT vice=20 president and foreign representative, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose=20 Ramos-Horta, reiterated support for the Timor Gap Treaty signed between=20 Indonesia and Australia in 1989 to carve up the underwater riches between=20 them. In the event of independence, East Timor would want a stable investmen= t=20 and economic regime, he said. =93Australian mining interests in the region=20 shouldn't fear the change of political status of East Timor.=94 Horta extended his assurances to all sectors of the economy. An independent=20 East Timor could be =93relied upon to give the right signals=94 to investors= . It=20 would look for investment in oil, gas, agriculture and tourism. He also=20 mooted special offers in the sphere of offshore banking, banking secrecy and=20 flag-of-convenience shipping. =93So I believe investors in Singapore, Hong K= ong=20 or in Australia would have an interest in investing in East Timor.=94 It wou= ld=20 also use its status as a former Portuguese territory to gain access to=20 European markets. Horta had previously announced the use of the Portuguese=20 currency and, ultimately, the Euro. In his speech, Horta said pro-independence forces in East Timor would accept=20 autonomy within Indonesia, if that were chosen at the UN ballot, and work=20 with the pro-integration factions to implement it. This amounts to a pledge=20 to share office with the same militia leaders who are killing and terrorisin= g=20 the Timorese people. Horta also restated the CNRT's desire for a=20 power-sharing transitional government to administer the half island under UN=20 supervision for at least three years in the event of a vote to break away=20 from Indonesia. Earlier, Horta gave a press conference at the New South Wales state=20 parliament house in Sydney, where he called for the US and the World Bank to=20 apply sanctions against Indonesia if the UN ballot were further postponed. There is considerable discussion among oil companies about the prospects of=20 fully exploiting Timor's oil and gas wealth under a new government. At an oi= l=20 industry conference in Darwin late last month, Robert Mollah, the Australian=20 executive director of the Australia-Indonesia joint authority for the Timor=20 Gap, said a feature of the past year had been widespread recognition that th= e=20 Timor Sea is a major gas/condensate province. He said 27 companies had spent=20 more than half a billion dollars on exploration and development in the zone.=20 The major company was Phillips Petroleum of the US, followed by the Royal=20 Dutch/Shell Group and Australia's Woodside Petroleum. By current industry=20 estimates, the region's known oil reserves are worth $11 billion. It is this wealth, just a portion of the immense natural resources across=20 Indonesia that excites the interests of the capitalist powers, the Indonesia= n=20 generals and the aspiring Timorese capitalists, not the plight of the=20 Timorese people. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 24 Jul 1999 jam 04:45:23 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
