---------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- Indonesian Observer 29th July 1999 Gus Dur rejects Timor vote delay JAKARTA (IO) =96 Influential Muslim leader Abdurrahman Wahid yesterday calle= d=20 on the United Nations not to postpone again an August ballot on East Timor= =92s=20 future, citing that security is under control there. Speaking to reporters in Jakarta, after concluding a two-day visit to the=20 troubled territory, Wahid, better known as Gus Dur, said security is=20 conducive enough to hold the planned vote on independence or autonomy in Eas= t=20 Timor. "So, there are no reasons to delay the ballot," he said, adding that small=20 outbreaks of violence in East Timor should not suspend the event. Earlier yesterday, Foreign Affairs Minister Alatas said UN Secretary General=20 Kofi Annan has decided to delay the vote, which would have taken place on=20 August 21 or 22, for one week due to security reasons.=20 Gus Dur, leader of the nation=92s largest Muslim organization =97Nahdlatul U= lama=20 (NU), who visited East Timor on Sunday and Monday, held several meetings wit= h=20 local military and government officials and pro- and anti-independence=20 leaders. He also had talks with officials of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) an= d=20 Catholic Bishop Carlos Ximenes Felipe Belo, a local influential spiritual=20 leader.=20 Gus Dur, one of leading presidential candidates, denied that UN personnel an= d=20 Belo sided with pro-independence supporters ahead of the direct ballot. "Belo is a peace figure," he said. Asked about Belo=92s statement, published in the foreign media, that he want= s=20 East Timor break away from Indonesia, Gus Said: "During my meeting with him=20 yesterday [Tuesday], it was not evident that he sides with a certain group".=20 The NU chairman, founder of the third-ranked National Awakening Party (PKB),=20 also appreciated the military readiness to maintain security conducive for=20 the ballot. The military should maintain neutrality, so the ballot can be held smoothly=20 and democratically, Gus Dur added. The military has been accused of backing anti-independence militias in East=20 Timor ahead of the vote. =20 =20 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 29 Jul 1999 jam 11:32:20 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
