[asia-apec 187] JOSE RAMOS-HORTA'S APPEAL

[sonny at nation.nationgroup.com]

NOBEL WINNER APPEALS FOR AUSTRALIAN ACTION ON EAST TIMOR
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SYDNEY, Wednesday Oct 23, 1996:

East Timorese Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jose Ramos-Horta has appealed to
Australia to change its stance on East Timor, saying it was responsible
for Canberra's failure to get a seat on the United Nations Security
Council.

Ramos-Horta told a meeting of independence activists here Wednesday that
Australia's humiliating failure to secure the seat was a "direct fallout" 
of the government's East Timor policy. 

Australia's high hopes of success after a two-year lobbying campaign to
win one of two temporary seats on the UN's most powerful forum were
crushed by Sweden and Portugal in a three-way ballot in New York.

Horta said his meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
on Saturday would provide a perfect opportunity for Australia (the only
country to recognise Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor) to change its
stance.

"Now Australia has lost a lot for Indonesia, what has Indonesia done for
Australia?" the Nobel Peace prize winner said.

Horta said the prize, shared with fellow independence activist Roman
Catholic Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, had placed East Timor high on
the international agenda and was an embarrassment for Australia.

"Maybe Foreign Minister Downer will listen and will initiate some policy
change," Horta said.

"We are not asking Australia to cut diplomatic ties with Indonesia or
impose sanctions, there are a number of things it can do."

These measures included offering temporary sanctuary to East Timorese
refugees and initiating secret international talks aimed at forcing
Indonesian concessions to the territory.

Ramos-Horta said Portugal's elevation to the UN Security Council gave the
East Timorese resistance movement an unprecedented chance to raise the
independence issue on an international stage.

**He said US Congressional Speaker Newt Gingrich had invited him to
address Congress, but he would only accept on condition he could speak
about East Timor and not become a "political ping pong ball" on the issue
of financial donations by Indonesian businessmen to the Democratic Party
presidential coffers.