SECRETARY-GENERAL HOLDS SEVENTH ROUND OF TALKS ON EAST TIMOR IN LONDON WITH FOREIGN MINISTERS OF INDONESIA AND PORTUGAL
Press Release
SG/SM/5875
SECRETARY-GENERAL HOLDS SEVENTH ROUND OF TALKS ON EAST TIMOR IN LONDON WITH FOREIGN MINISTERS OF INDONESIA AND PORTUGAL
19960116 Parties Agree to Continue Efforts; Next Round to Be Held in Geneva on 29 June(Received from the Deputy Spokesman travelling with the Secretary-General.)
The following statement was issued today at the conclusion of the seventh round of talks on the question of East Timor:
LONDON, 16 January -- The Secretary-General held the seventh round of talks on the question of East Timor in London on Tuesday, 16 January, with the Foreign Minister of Portugal, Jaime Gama, and the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Ali Alatas.
The Ministers discussed developments since the sixth round of talks in July 1995, and, in this connection, welcomed the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jose Ayala-Lasso, to Jakarta and East Timor in December 1995 in the context of the implementation of the Chairman's Statement adopted by consensus in 1995 by the Human Rights Commission, the importance of which was recognized.
The Ministers, without prejudice to their respective positions of principle regarding the political status of East Timor, continued their discussions on those substantive issues which have been identified related to an eventual framework for the achievement of a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution to the question of East Timor as well as other related issues, inter alia, the preservation and promotion of the cultural identity of the East Timorese people and bilateral relations between Indonesia and Portugal.
The Ministers took note positively of the Secretary-General's intention to facilitate and offer the necessary arrangements for another meeting of the All-Inclusive Intra-East Timorese Dialogue in accordance with the same terms of reference agreed at the fifth round of talks, which will take place in Austria in March 1996.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/5875 16 January 1996
Following today's discussions, the parties agreed to continue their efforts, with the assistance of the Secretary-General, to find a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable settlement to the question of East Timor. The eighth round of talks between the Foreign Ministers under the auspices of the Secretary-General will be held in Geneva on 29 June. In the interval talks will continue at the Permanent Representative level with the participation of the Secretary-General's Representative.
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