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No secret plans for East Timor, UN says

Source
Agence France Presse - July 3, 1998

United Nations – The United Nations said Thursday it has made no formal proposals to settle the issue of the status of the former Portuguese colony of East Timor, annexed in 1976 by Indonesia.

The strongly worded statement by UN spokesman Fred Eckhard came after the publication in Indonesia of a five-page document marked "strictly confidential" from UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker. Eckhard said Marker was "dismayed and seriously concerned at the deplorable breach of diplomatic confidentiality" that led to the release of the "highly confidential letter."

In East Timor, Bishop and Nobel Prize winner Carlos Belo criticized the leak about Indonesia's proposal to turn East Timor into an autonomous region. Belo said the report, dated April 23, should be withdrawn. "It is best that the UN pulls itself out from circulation and cancels all the UN's written plan on autonomy as listed in the draft." he said. "I think this would be the wisest move for both the pro and anti-integration groups within and outside Indonesia."

Eckhard said the special envoy "reiterates that there have been no proposals, formal or informal, made by the United Nations on the issue of East Timor." UN efforts are continuing to find a "just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution," he said.

Eckhard said the letter was "exploratory in nature and meant to enrich previous discussions ... and did not constitute proposals of any kind." Marker has sent a formal protest to Nugroho Wisnumurti, head of political affairs at Indonesia's Foreign Ministry, he added.

[According to a July 3 report by AFP, Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alitas has deplored the leak saying "The Indonesian government has no interest whatsoever in leaking this document. On the contrary. it looks like somebody wants to sabotage the ongoing tripartite discussions" - James Balowski.]

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