Indonesia says E.Timor will not sacrifice friendship Fri 17 Feb 2006 6:31 AM ET
TAMPAK SIRING, Indonesia, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday East Timor will not sacrifice its relations with his country despite controversy over a report on atrocities during Jakarta's occupation. Yudhoyono made the comments after meeting East Timor President Xanana Gusmao for the first time since the former guerrilla leader submitted a report detailing alleged widespread atrocities to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month. "Problems must be resolved in a fair manner for truth and reconciliation. But we must not sacrifice the need and hope of the two countries to establish better relations in the future," Yudhoyono told a news conference on the Indonesian island of Bali. The report by East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation, based on 8,000 interviews, said Indonesia was responsible for as many as 180,000 deaths in tiny East Timor during its 1975-1999 occupation by Indonesia. It said Indonesian forces used napalm, which Jakarta denies, and describes poisoning of food and water, incidents of torture, and sexual mutilation and rape of pro-independence supporters. Gusmao had few comments after the meeting, saying he had expressed his views at the U.N. headquarters last month. After submitting the report, Gusmao had said East Timor was not seeking punitive action against Indonesia, and expressed his opposition to the report's call to do so. Yudhoyono said the two countries were committed to resolve their past issues through a joint truth commission set up to probe bloodshed surrounding East Timor's independence vote in 1999. Critics have called that commission toothless and want legal action that would lead to punishment for rights violators. On Friday, Yudhoyono said the joint commission would study all available reports in carrying out its duties to come up with a fair and good resolution. Indonesia withdrew from East Timor -- one of the world's poorest countries but with energy resources that have only begun to be tapped -- in 1999 after a referendum showed an overwhelming majority of Timorese wanted independence. The period around the referendum was marked by a wave of violence blamed largely on pro-Jakarta militias backed by Indonesian military elements. Since then, the Indonesian and East Timorese governments have generally pursued policies of friendship and reconciliation, playing down pre-independence violence and Indonesia's lack of action against those accused of atrocities. That attitude has drawn fire from international human rights groups, as well as criticism from rights advocates in both countries. Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
