Asia Times: Timor independence card not on Aussie P.M.'s table



	February 16, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Timor independence card not on Aussie P.M.'s table
By Sonny Inbaraj

DARWIN - Just a day before jailed EastTimor resistance leader Xanana Gusmao was moved to house arrest tohelp in talks over the future of his homeland, the Australianprime minister rang the alarm bells.

Prime Minister John Howard, it seems, is not keen on independencefor East Timor. And his comments in a television program havecaused red faces all around - from the Department of ForeignAffairs to pro-independence activists and the Labor opposition.

On the current affairs program ''7:30 Report'', Howard called onEast Timor not to seek full independence from Indonesia and warnedthat if it did, there will be instability and the potential fortensions with Jakarta.

''I would prefer an autonomous East Timor within Indonesia and Iwould hope that Indonesia and East Timorese leaders will continueto work towards that,'' he said.

Laying his cards on the table, the prime minister said he wantedto see Australia use its diplomatic muscle to convince the EastTimorese to see the virtues of autonomy with Indonesia.

''There would be an inherent instability . . . there would be aneconomic and strategic vulnerability . . . there would be apotential for ongoing tension between Indonesia and an independentEast Timor - the type that might not exist if East Timor were anautonomous part of Indonesia,'' warned Howard.

His comments came on the eve of Xanana's move from Jakarta'sCipinang jail to a form of house arrest in a Jakarta suburb aspart of a deal with Indonesia to allow the resistance leader totake part in talks aimed at resolving the 23-year-old conflict.

The newly accelerated talks also involve the United Nations andEast Timor's former colonial power, Portugal.

Late Thursday in Jakarta, President B.J. Habibieindicated that if it was up to the government, Indonesia wouldgrant the disputed territory independence.

''If the government should be asked for a suggestion on EastTimor, my suggestion is, just give East Timor independence,''Habibie told representatives of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerceand Industry at the Merdeka Palace.

''We do not want to be burdened by the problem of East Timor asof January 1, 2000,'' he said.

Indonesian troops invaded East Timor in December 1975 and annexedit a year later. The U.N. does not recognize Indonesian rule andconsiders Portugal as the territory's administrator.

Human rights groups say that as a result of the invasion, morethan 200,000 East Timorese or a third of the population werekilled either fighting the Indonesians or from hunger and disease.

If East Timor is eventually granted its independence - and theIndonesian government has said this is a possibility if anautonomy offer is rejected - then Xanana could become thenation's first president.

John Howard's comments couldn't have been more ill-timed.Sources at the Department of Foreign Affairs say Australia hasbeen put in an internationally embarrassing position.

''Howard has unravelled everything without consulting us. He'sobviously not on top of things, having just come back from hisholidays,'' the source said.

Just last week, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, on a Europeantour, was telling the media that East Timor could gainindependence within 18 months and dismissed suggestions thatJakarta's dramatic offer of independence was a sham.

''They are obviously sincere in what they say. It is wrong to sayit is some kind of Indonesian trick,'' he said.

Shadow Labor Foreign Affairs Minister Laurie Brereton, whoreckons East Timor could be fully independent by the end of theyear, said Howard is sending a very negative message to the EastTimorese as well as Indonesia.

''Stubborn and blind to East Timorese aspirations, the primeminister is left behind by the pace of events. Instead of lookingforward to the increasingly likely outcome of an independent EastTimor, Howard appears determined to look to the past,'' he said.

Rob Wesley-Smith of the Darwin-based Australians for a Free EastTimor hit out at the Howard government, accusing it of isolatingAustralia from most of the international community over EastTimor.

''What annoys me is the total lack of leadership by Howard overEast Timor, or for that matter over support for the pro-democracymovement in Indonesia itself. At a time when extra support couldmake a big difference, the Australian government is digging in itsheels,'' said Wesley-Smith.

Howard's television comments could have been made on the widelyheld fear that there will be chaos if Indonesia leaves East Timoramid alarming reports of mounting civil unrest within Timor,itself causing some to argue that the East Timorese are incapableof ruling themselves.

While there are genuine concerns among diplomats, ChrisCarrascalao - the daughter of an East Timorese independenceleader and a student of international relations in Jakarta triedto put things in perspective.

''First of all Australia has to know for sure that everythingthat has been going on here, the terrorism and all that, is notcaused by the Timorese. It's a strategy planned by the Indonesianmilitary because that's the point they're trying to make the worldsee - if one day Indonesia leaves there's going to be anothercivil war here."

''But people forget we don't want another civil war. We just wantto live in peace - we want to live in a free atmosphere withoutany killings or massacres . . . we simply want our freedom,'' shesaid in a telephone interview.

Talk of a U.N. observer mission to East Timor has cropped up, inview of the escalating violence in the territory.

Brereton has called on the Howard government to give a clearcommitment for Australian civilian and military participation in aU.N. monitoring force there. And that appeal has been supported byAustralia's former consul to East Timor, James Dunn.

''We should press at once for a U.N. presence in East Timor. Atlast we are in a position to do something to end this crisis,which we ourselves helped bring about by our tacit support for theIndonesian invasion. But if we fail to respond, disaster couldreturn to our long-suffering neighbors,'' he said.

(Inter Press Service)

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