United Nations – Indonesia on Wednesday denied "back-pedaling" on autonomy proposals for East Timor, but ruled out an agreement on a draft autonomy package at current talks here.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas dashed hopes of an early agreement on the autonomy package as he arrived for talks with his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
In comments to reporters, he rejected Portuguese accusations that Jakarta was back-tracking, while Gama said he was seeking clarifications about the Indonesian position and wished to hear "one view" from Jakarta.
Portugal and Indonesia have been negotiating a draft autonomy package under UN auspices, and hopes had run high in recent days that agreement could be reached during the two days of ministerial talks here.
But Alatas cast a chill over the UN talks on Monday by announcing after a cabinet meeting in Jakarta that "some revisions" were needed to the proposals and that the process would take time.
The talks here are also due to focus on UN compromise proposals for an indirect vote by the East Timorese, who would elect a consultative assembly that would decide whether to accept autonomy or prepare for independence.
Alatas repeated Wednesday that if the East Timorese reject the wide-ranging autonomy proposals, Jakarta would let the former Portuguese colony "part ways" with Indonesia, which annexed East Timor in 1976.
"We still hope that we will meet this self-imposed deadline of April," for completing the autonomy package, Alatas said.
But he added: "it turns out now that we can't really wrap up the talks at this meeting as we hoped before, because there are still a few aspects which need to be further discussed." He said he would explain details to the Portuguese delegation at the talks.
Gama said he would demand a "clarification" from Alatas on whether Jakarta intended to give East Timor autonomy, or independence, or "short-range autonomy."
"All of us recognize that Indonesia is quite oscillating in an unpredictable manner in this negotiation," he said.
Gama expressed concern that "there is backwards movement on the Indonesian side regarding autonomy." But Alatas strongly rejected such suggestions.
"We are not back-pedaling, we are not backtracking. I'm sorry for the statement made by my colleague Jaime Gama, which I consider highly speculative and not based on facts," Alatas said.
Gama said that he hoped Jakarta would remain firm in offering the Timorese independence if the autonomy option is rejected.
He also expressed the hope that the Indonesians would not backtrack on the compromise regarding "a UN-sponsored consultation of the East Timorese." Indonesia is rejecting a referendum on the future of East Timor, fearing that other restive provinces in the sprawling archipelago could demand a similar vote.
UN officials hoped that the compromise proposal for the election of a consultative assembly would be acceptable to Lisbon, which is calling for a democratic vote, and Jakarta.
There is mounting concern here that unrest in East Timor between pro-integrationist and pro-independence factions could be fueled by further delay in reaching agreement on the draft autonomy package.
The draft plan provides for Indonesia to retain control over foreign affairs, defence and the economy.
The Indonesian government has denied accusations it has been arming civilians, and Annan said last week he had no reason to believe there was "a deliberate policy to destabilise East Timor." Indonesia is largely Moslem, while the vast majority of the 800,000 East Timorese are Roman Catholic.