Don Greenlees, Jakarta – Indonesia is sending a delegation of three ministers to East Timor in a signal that it wants a co-operative relationship with its former possession, declared independent on May 20.
The delegation, due to arrive in Dili today, will hold talks on economic co-operation with President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
The visit by the ministers for Home Affairs, Trade and Industry and Social Affairs was authorised by President Megawati Sukarnoputri, despite continuing point-scoring in parliament over her attendance at the independence celebrations.
Mr Gusmao had planned to make Jakarta his first overseas stop as President two weeks ago but the visit was postponed at the last minute because of what Indonesia claimed was a scheduling problem. He and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta are planning a three-day visit to Canberra and Sydney, starting on Monday.
Indonesia's willingness to send a senior ministerial delegation to Dili so soon after independence is a welcome sign the Government does not want relations to be impeded by domestic politics.
But public statements by certain members of parliament, and private grumbling by senior military officers, indicate it will not be easy for Ms Megawati to establish the kind of friendly and stable relationship she would like.
Moreover, foreign analysts point to troubling signs that the goodwill evident in the ministerial visit does not extend to prosecuting civilians or military officers guilty of orchestrating a campaign of violence in East Timor during the 1999 independence referendum.
Reflecting concerns Ms Megawati might seek compromise with the armed forces, the International Crisis Group said in a May 8 report that prosecution indictments for human rights trials were inadequate and portrayed the 1999 violence as individual criminal negligence on the part of military officers rather than a premeditated campaign.
Indonesian prosecutors also have dropped an investigation into the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes in East Timor in September 1999.