DATE=10/14/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AUSTRALIA / GUSMAO (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254998
BYLINE=DANA ROBERTSON
DATELINE=CANBERRA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The East Timorese resistance leader Xanana
Gusmao met Australian Prime Minister John Howard
Thursday for the first time. Mr. Howard and
other Australian politicians welcomed Mr. Gusmao
and fellow East Timor independence leader Jose
Ramos Horta to Canberra. As Dana Robertson
reports from the Australian capital, Mr. Gusmao
thanked Mr. Howard for Australia's deployment of
troops to East Timor to restore security to the
territory.
TEXT: Xanana Gusmao met Mr. Howard, the
Opposition leader, Kim Beazley and members of the
group, "Parliamentarians for a Free East Timor."
He thanked Mr. Howard for taking decisive action
to end the violence that erupted in East Timor
after the August independence vote. He also asked
for continued assistance from Australia for East
Timor's reconstruction.
//GUSMAO ACT//
We received a very positive answer that the
Australian government and the Australian people
would help us in areas that we will need.
//END ACT//
Mr. Gusmao says the assistance will come not only
during the third phase of the United Nations
mission in East Timor, but as part of a long term
co-operative relationship between the two
countries. That co-operation is likely to extend
to the Timor Gap treaty negotiated between
Indonesia and Australia in 1989. The treaty
allows for the joint exploitation of oil and gas
in the seabed between Australia and Timor. Mr.
Gusmao says an independent East Timor would
respect the terms of the existing treaty,
although the issue was not discussed with the
Prime Minister.
For his part, Prime Minister Howard is
emphasizing the need for East Timor to build a
relationship with Indonesia. He told the
Australian Parliament that stability in the
region will depend on the strength of the
relationship between Australia, Indonesia and
East Timor.
//XANANA ACT//
We discussed and agreed on the desirability of a
future closer relationship between not only East
Timor and Indonesia but also between the three
nations and that it's valuable for all of us at
this difficult time that the three of us will
need to build a relationship with each other in
different ways in the years that lie ahead.
//END ACT//
He also expressed gratitude to the Australian
people, saying he could not describe what their
support has meant to the East Timorese.
//GUSMAO ACT//
We feel, we feel not, we knew from the beginning
of our difficult struggle that the Australian
people was side by side with us, sharing our
pain, our suffering, it was why we could survive
also.
//END ACT//
Mr. Gusmao plans to return to his homeland next week.
(signed)
NEB/DR/FC
14-Oct-1999 03:09 AM EDT (14-Oct-1999 0709 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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