---------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- Tripartite meeting opens in Jakarta to discuss Timor post-ballot period JAKARTA, Aug 12 (AFP) - Indonesia, Portugal and the United Nations began a two-day meeting on East Timor here Thursday, focusing on a possible buildup of UN strength in the troubled territory after the landmark August 30 self-determination vote. "We are going to discuss the second phase of the ballot process and the presence of the United Nations until the implementation of either option," Portugal's Fernandez Neves told journalists before the talks started. Neves, Portugal's ambassador-at-large for the East Timor issue, was refering to the option that will be presented to East Timorese when they vote to accept or reject Jakarta's offer of autonomy within Indonesia. He is heading his country's delegation to the talks which also includes Lisbon's representative to Jakarta Ana Gomes and three other officials. Also attending the meeting were UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker and the head of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), Ian Martin. The host delegation is headed by foreign ministry political affairs director general Nugroho Wisnumurti and the head of the Indonesian taskforce in East Timor, Agus Tarmidzi. In the East Timor capital of Dili, UNAMET spokesman David Wimhurst said the tripartite meeting in Jakarta would discuss "the scenario after the ballot." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Tuesday described the post-ballot period as "delicate" and recommended that the number of UN civilian police and military liaison officers deployed in East Timor be doubled. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said during a visit to East Timor last month that the "Phase Two" period -- between voting day and Indonesia's decision in November on whether to accept or reject the result of the vote -- could turn violent. A nine-member Canadian delegation of trade unionists and rights activists said here Thursday after a visit to East Timor that violence and intimidation by pro-Indonesian militias there was continuing unabated. "It is clear, based on our visit there, that violence continues unabated by militia in East Timor," Hassan Yussuff, delegation leader and executive vice president of the Canadian Labor Congress, told a press conference. They echoed similar accusations against Indonesian authorities made on Wednesday by The Carter Center, a private observer group, and the Foundation for Human Rights and Justice, a leading East Timorese rights group. The three organisations have each warned they had evidence that Indonesian authorities were arming and supporting pro-Indonesia militias to spread chaos if the autonomy option was rejected. The armed militias have been blamed for most of the violence and scores of deaths in East Timor since March. In East Timor the head of the UN military liaison team, Brigadier General Reza Haider, was due to make a trip to Bobonaro to visit "the special cantonment" there of the Falintil, the armed wing of the East Timorese pro-independence movement, Wimhurst said. The pro-independence movement has agreed, as part of efforts to ensure security during the UN-held ballot, to confine their men to barracks. The UNAMET, Wimhurst said, has accredited 1,223 international and national observers while another 95 observers from Portugal are expected to join them shortly. He said UNAMET officials were providing voter education in Los Palos and Viqueque Thursday. Similar visits would be made to Maliana and Oecussi on Friday and to Same and Baucau on Saturday. Saturday will see the start of the political campaign period for the ballot. It will end on August 27. On August 30 some 450,000 East Timorese here and abroad are expected to vote on whether they accept or reject the autonomy offer. Jakarta has said it may grant independence to the former Portuguese colony, which it invaded in 1975 and annexed the following year, if the offer is rejected. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 12 Aug 1999 jam 10:03:36 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
