07 September 1999
UN Mission Will Urge Indonesia to Accept Foreign Peacekeepers on Timor
(Holbrooke says U.S. actively seeking solution to East Timor crisis) (630) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- The UN Security Council has sent a five-man mission to Jakarta to confer with the Indonesian government regarding the violence in East Timor following the UN-supervised referendum in which the region's inhabitants voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia. "If Indonesia accepts the help of foreign forces, the matter will probably be handled very quickly" by the Security Council, its President told reporters September 7 after a closed-door meeting. "That's what we're all waiting for -- the green light -- this is what the mission is actually all about." Council President Arnold Peter van Walsum of the Netherlands said he dispatched a team headed by Ambassador Martin Andjaba of Namibia, who was last month's Security Council President, and including Malaysian Ambassador Agam Hasmy, British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, Slovenian Ambassador Danilo Turk and Netherlands Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Alphons Hamer. The team was expected to arrive in Jakarta around midnight September 7. U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Richard Holbrooke said that while the United States is also waiting for the outcome of the UN mission, its officials have been actively seeking a way to end the violence. "There are continuous meetings going on in New York, Washington, Canberra and all over the world on how to proceed," said Holbrooke, who had officially presented his credentials as the new chief U.S. envoy to the United Nations to Secretary General Kofi Annan earlier on September 7. "The United States is not waiting. The United States has been actively engaged around the clock," he said. The Secretary of State made "a very important statement" in Hanoi, Holbrooke said, referring to Secretary Madeleine Albright's call for Indonesia to take responsibility and control the situation quickly. Holbrooke noted that Albright meet the British Foreign Secretary when she arrives in New Zealand for the APEC conference. "We are doing everything that can be done at this point -- a point which everyone has noted -- the government of Indonesia has not requested any kind of additional presence beyond what now exists," Holbrooke said. Walsum made clear that the Council would not authorize the intervention of foreign forces in East Timor without the express consent of the Indonesian government. "Indonesia would have to make clear that it accepts foreign military help because so far Indonesia is of the opinion, and has made it very plain, that that in the second phase of the Fifth of May Agreement -- the phase between announcement of the results of the referendum and the constitutional adjustment that has to take place in Jakarta. Indonesia alone is responsible for peace and security in East Timor," he said. Walsum conceded that the high-level Security Council mission does not have any leverage but is "trying to convince Indonesia to go along with" accepting foreign troops. He added that he does "not know of any country that has stated that it is considering intervening in East Timor without the consent of Indonesia." Walsum added that members of the UN mission are "on their own" in their talks with Indonesia. "They have a brief from the Security Council, but they have to handle this on the spot and to a large extent ... play it by ear." "Many governments have mentioned the possibility of sending troops without mentioning Indonesian consent, but they have said provided the Security Council will give the green light," he said. "I can assure you the Security Council will not give the green light if there is no permission on the part of the Indonesian Government."
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