On the eve of his departure for East Timor as personal observer for the European presidency in Monday's referendum, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, held what he described as a "tense" meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, over continuing violence in the former Portuguese colony.
Mr Alatas expressed regret for the violence on Thursday in the East Timor capital Dili when pro-Indonesian militia backed by police went on the rampage, killing five people and attacking journalists and UN staff. But he said Indonesia would not agree to the deployment of an armed international peacekeeping force to maintain stability after Monday's popular consultation on the future of the territory.
However, there were reports in Jakarta last night that international outrage at Wednesday's violence in East Timor has pushed the Indonesian government into firing a notorious senior official from Korpassus, the intelligence wing of the Indonesian military (TNI), which has allegedly been orchestrating the ruthless campaign of intimidation by army-backed militias. Yesterday the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, said he was "appalled by the widespread violence" and demanded Indonesia take immediate steps to restore law and order.
A chartered Boeing 737-500 will this morning take Mr Andrews to Dili along with a party of officials including the Irish Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Brendan Lyons, the political director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Mr Richard Townsend, press counsellor Mr Declan Kelly and Mr Breiffne O'Reilly and Mr Tom Bolster. Two unarmed members of the Garda emergency response unit will provide personal protection for the Minister, who plans to visit Liquica, one of the most violent districts near the border with West Timor, on polling day. Asked about concerns for his safety, Mr Andrews said: "I don't give it much thought. It's rather like death, you don't think about it."
Also on the 92-seat plane will be the Finnish ambassador to Jakarta, Mr Hannu Himanen, the vice-president of the European Parliament, Mr Jose Pacleco of Portugal, three other MEPs, and several diplomats, making up a party of 23 EU observers, as well as EU personnel and journalists. Mr Andrews will remain in Dili until Wednesday, two days after polling takes place, and will return to Jakarta for a meeting with President B.J. Habibie before reporting to EU foreign ministers in Helsinki next weekend.
"We regret the incidents of yesterday," Mr Alatas said. "I am sure the police will be able to restore order quickly and take the necessary measures so there will be no postponement of the popular consultation." Mr Andrews conveyed to Mr Alatas the plea made by the jailed East Timorese resistance leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, on Wednesday, that an international peacekeeping force be deployed in the territory to prevent civil war between the time of the vote and its expected ratification in November by the newly-elected parliament.
Mr Alatas ruled out such a force, noting that the mandate of UNAMET, the United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor, had been extended and that the international force of unarmed police would be increased from 260 to 480 and military liaison officers from 50 to 300, whatever the outcome.
Indonesia had agreed to allow foreign UN police advisers and that their number could be increased after the vote, he said. "They will continue to be there with the same capacities and with the same mandate. So there will not be peacekeeping forces." A total of 451,000 East Timorese at home and abroad have registered to vote on whether East Timor would prefer autonomy within Indonesia or a complete break with the country which invaded it in 1975, causing some 200,000 deaths from military repression and famine. The result is expected on September 7th. The Indonesian defence minister, Gen Muladi, said on Wednesday Mr Gusmao would be released on September 15th and given an amnesty, cancelling his 1992 conviction for leading armed resistance in East Timor.
Mr Alatas said yesterday he could not say what the release date would be and it would depend on developments. "We will just wait and see," he said. Mr Gusmao called again yesterday for an international peacekeeping force . "They don't want to end violence because it is a part of their strategy to keep East Timor in Indonesia," he told Australian radio. "They will pursue violence as their main political means. I think we are so defenceless that we can only wait for international help." The meeting with Mr Alatas "was civil and polite but it was not as warm as the last time, I must admit," said Mr Andrews, referring to his consultations with Mr Alatas in Jakarta in April. "It was tense. I said careful thought must be given to the risk of violence in the period after the results of the vote are announced.
"It is essential that effective arrangements to maintain peace be put in place to avoid the risk of armed clashes between the parties. Despite assurances it seems there is still a lot to be done."
In Jakarta yesterday, the Indonesian press reported that one of 300 allegedly independent Indonesian observers denied accreditation by UNAMET on the grounds that the government financed them had admitted that the UN was right. A student told the Jakarta Post he was given the equivalent of £250 by the Indonesian foreign ministry and free passage to Dili to act as an "independent" observer. An official of the ministry denied it was involved. Under the UN agreement on the referendum, Portugal and Indonesia are each allowed only 100 official observers along with 1,600 international observers.