Subject: LUSA: Portugal, Resistance Applaud U.S.
Congress Actions Against Indonesia
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 07:20:24 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Sharon R.A. Scharfe" <pet@web.net>23 OUT 98 - 11:22 East Timor:
Portugal, Resistance Applaud U.S. Congress Actions Against Indonesia
Lisbon, Oct. 23 (Lusa) - The Portuguese government and the East Timorese resistance
have applauded U.S. congressional moves to restrict military aid to Indonesia and to
support a referendum on the status of the Jakarta-occupied territory.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama wrote to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright Thursday, expressing his "satisfaction" with the Wednesday vote in
congress. He called on the Clinton administration "to take into consideration"
the congressional initiative. A foreign ministry communique said it was "the
strongest support yet expressed by the U.S. congress for the inalienable right of the
Timorese people to self-determination and a clear rejection of Indonesia's claims on the
territory."
Separately, exiled East Timor leader Jose Ramos Horta, in Portugal for a meeting of the
resistance leadership, described the move as "unprecedented" and as a warning to
Jakarta. The congressional action conditioned the sale of U.S. weapons to Indonesia,
banning their use in East Timor, and restricted U.S. training of Indonesian officers. It
also expressed support for the holding of an internationally supervized referendum on the
future status of the territory, which was invaded in 1975 and annexed by Indonesia in
1976. - Lusa
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