---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Ramos-Horta seeks EU help to stop E.Timor abuses MANILA, July 29 (Reuters) - East Timorese independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta urged the European Union on Thursday to use its influence with Indonesia's military to stop what he called army-backed abuses in East Timor ahead of its independence vote. The Nobel peace laureate made the appeal during a meeting with EU diplomats in Manila on the last day of his six-day visit to the Philippines. ``I told them it is very much in their hands, in their power to influence the Indonesian army to behave,'' Ramos-Horta told reporters. ``After all, some of them are the ones who gave military training (and) military sales to the Indonesian side, so they are the ones who have the influence,'' he added. Ramos-Horta said the World Bank's $5.9 billion aid pledge for Indonesia announced in Paris on Wednesday might help consolidate democratic reforms in Indonesia but the Bank must also tackle the problem of abuses in East Timor. ``It is also extremely important that the World Bank addresses charges that Indonesia is misusing millions of dollars...in supporting its dirty war in East Timor.'' United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has postponed a U.N.-organised vote on the future status of East Timor for a second time because of security and logistical problems. The ballot is now scheduled for August 30. Ramos-Horta said tens of thousands of East Timorese had fled their homes as a result of a terror campaign by army-organised, anti-independence militias. Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it the following year in a move not recognised by much of the world community. On his last day in Manila, Ramos-Horta also met Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon and former president Corazon Aquino, who inspired the popular revolt in 1986 that toppled late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power. Ramos-Horta was to leave on Thursday for Portugal. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 30 Jul 1999 jam 04:24:03 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
