| Subject: Xanana
to visit Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, China
Xanana to visit Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, China East Timor's Gusmao to visit Thailand The Nation, Bangkok, Jan 18, 2000 EAST Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao will visit Thailand from Feb 3-5 as the guest of Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan, a ministry source said yesterday. Former rebel leader Gusmao, leading a six-man-strong delegation including Jose Ramos-Horta, who was once blacklisted from visiting, will meet Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai, Supreme Commander Gen Mongkhol Ampornphisit, opposition leader Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and former premier Anand Panyarachun, who heads a relief fund for East Timor. According to the source, Gusmao will ask Thailand to assist East Timor in a wide range of areas, including agriculture, education, public health and human resources. The Timorese will ask Thailand to set up a diplomatic office in the former Portuguese colony, the official said. According to the source, the two sides will discuss the possibility of allowing East Timorese representatives to attend Asean meetings as observers. Gusmao will also tour the Thai-Burmese border where over 100,000 refugees are staying in camps run by aid workers. The Timorese leader aims to meet with local human rights workers, academics and religious figures to exchange views on the development of the war-torn state that overwhelmingly voted for independence from Indonesia last August. According to the officer, a number of Thai fishery companies have expressed an interest in investing in East Timor. Gusmao begins his six-nation, 18-day tour this Sunday, starting with China. He will also visit South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. After the tour, Gusmao will fly to East Timor's capital Dili to meet Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio who is scheduled to visit the island-state on Feb 10 and 11. Gusmao will be seeking a visa to Burma, where he hopes to meet the leader of the military government, as well as opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Gusmao had attended a World Bank meeting in Japan in December and flew to Macau immediately after for the handover of the Portuguese colony to China. ---- East Timor leaders to visit Malaysia Ajinder Kaur 5pm, WED (Jan 19)-- East Timor leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta will be making a three-day visit to Kuala Lumpur next month. "The two leaders are tentatively scheduled to be in town from Feb 7 to 9 as part of an East Asian tour," Solidaritas Timor Timor representative Elizabeth Wong told malaysiakini today. Wong said that the two leaders would be meeting a number of government officials. However, but it is unclear whether they are meeting government leaders. Their visit to Malaysia is expected to open old wounds. The Malaysian government had never supported the struggle for independence in East Timor. In 1996, a group of government-organised mob violently stopped the Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II), which was held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The conference, organised by a number of Malaysian NGOs, sought a peaceful resolution to the East Timor conflict. The fracas resulted in the arrests of 60-odd local participants and the deportation of all foreign delegates. In addition, the government had kept mum on the killing of Malaysian student Kamal Bamadhaj in the 1991 Dili massacre by Indonesian troops. Wong, who is also coordinator of human rights group Suaram, said that Gusmao and Ramos-Horta would also be meeting NGOs and East Timor supporters while in Malaysia. "Solidaritas Timor Timor and Suaram will arrange and host meetings between the East Timor leaders and NGOs in the country," she said. Gusmao and Ramos-Horta will begin a six-nation, 18-day tour this Sunday, starting with China. Apart from Malaysia and China, they will be visiting South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. "The tour aims to seek technical support and assistance for East Timor in various areas especially education through talks with government officials in East Asia," said Wong. In addition, they will be getting feedback on the possibility of East Timor joining Asean. Gusmao, a former guerilla leader, was arrested in 1992 and later jailed in Indonesia for 20 years on firearms charges and for plotting against East Timor. He was released from prison last year to head a newly independent East Timor after a historic referendum. Ramos-Horta, a Nobel laureate, had been the leading international spokesman for East Timor's cause since the half island was invaded by Indonesia in 1975. ----- Deutsche Presse-Agentur January 20, 2000, Saturday, BC Cycle East Timor leader to visit China to discuss ties Beijing China has invited East Timor's leader Jose Alexandre Xanana Gusmao to visit China from January 24 to January 27 to discuss the future of East Timor and possible ties with, China a foreign ministry spokesman said on Thursday. Gusmao will hold formal talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and is slated for meetings with Vice President Hu Jintao and Vice Premier Qian Qichen, spokesman Zhu Bangzao told a regular news briefing. Zhu described the situation in the newly independent East Timor as "relaxed" and expressed the belief that with the help of the United Nations, the international community and the East Timorese people, the territory will achieve smooth transition to an independent entity. Zhu reiterated Beijing's respect of the choice made by the people of East Timor but called for proper resolution of the territory's issues under the U.N. framework. China has dispatched ten civilian policemen to supplement the Australian-led U.N. peacekeeping force in China's first participation in U.N. peacekeeping operations. "The Chinese side will continue to adopt a highly responsible attitude to make its own contribution to the smooth transition of East Timor, " Zhu said. Back to
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