DATE=11/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=XANANA GUSMAO - JAKARTA (L-O)
NUMBER=2-256660
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid and
East Timorese leaders say they want to put the past
behind them and cooperate as neighbors. As Patricia
Nunan reports from Jakarta, it was the first meeting
between the president Xanana Gusmao since the
Indonesian government allowed East Timor its
independence.
TEXT: East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao
says he is committed to creating a cooperative,
friendly, and good relationship between East Timor and
Indonesia.
/// XANANA GUSMAO ACT ///
The past is the past, now we are look at the
future, because the future means hope, means
peace, means love between people and between
countries.
///END ACT ///
Along with East Timorese Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-
Horta, Mr. Gusmao has been meeting with government
leaders in the Indonesian capital since Sunday.
Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid says he would
accept an invitation to visit East Timor if he
receives one. After he was asked for assistance by
Mr. Gusmao, the Indonesian president pledged to help
rebuild East Timor, which was ravaged by anti-
independence militia groups in September.
/// WAHID ACT ///
Now since Dili is already burnt, then he thinks
the Indonesian side or the Indonesian people can
help him to rebuild Dili and other places by
sending building materials to the area.
/// END ACT ///
Much of East Timor was laid to ruin by the anti-
independence militia groups. They went on a rampage
of killing and destruction when most East Timorese
voted for the territory to separate from Indonesian
rule. Hundreds of people are believed to have died.
The independence referendum was held to end more than
20-years of guerrilla war in East Timor, which began
after Indonesian troops invaded the former Portuguese
colony in 1975.
East Timor is being administered by the United Nations
while it works to form a new government and ruling
institutions.
It was Mr. Gusmao's first visit to the Indonesian
capital since he was released from seven-years of
prison and house arrest in September. As a former
guerilla commander, Mr. Gusmao fought Indonesian
troops in the East Timorese jungle for 17-years before
he was arrested in 1992 and sentenced to 20-years in
prison.
President Wahid has also promised to release the last
18 East Timorese political prisoners remaining in
Indonesian jails in the coming days. (SIGNED)
NEB/PN/RAE
30-Nov-1999 10:10 AM EDT (30-Nov-1999 1510 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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