JAKARTA WATCHING EAST TIMOR UNREST

C O N F I D E N T I A L JAKARTA 005642 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/S-O, EAP, AND EAP/MTS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/04/2006 TAGS: PREL PGOV AS SN TT ID SUBJECT: JAKARTA WATCHING EAST TIMOR UNREST REF: A. DILI 203 ¶B. DILI 200 Classified By: W. Lewis Amselem, Deputy Chief of Mission. Reason 1.4 ( b, d) ¶1. (C) On May 4, DCM was called by his Australian and Singaporean counterparts who expressed concern about ongoing unrest in East Timor (reftels). The Australians' analysis of the situation seemed to track with the information Embasy Dili has provided. Australian DCM said that the GOA had already advised its citizens to depart the country, but said because of the proximity of East Timor to Australia, it was unlikely that the GOA would close its Embassy in Dili almost regardless of developments. She volunteered that Australia would be "extremely reluctant" to initiate any military contingency in ET unless it had a very clear international mandate and formed part of a multinational effort. We advised both the Australian and Singaporaen DCM that we had authorized the departure of some dependents and that we were tracking developments closely. ¶2. (C) Separately, we met on May 4 with Zaenal Arifin, Director for Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor at Indonesia's Department of Foreign Affairs. Arifin did not have a detailed overview of developments on the ground in East Timor, but said that his mission in Dili reported that the situation was calm for the time being. He said that during the April 27 - 28 unrest, some Indonesians had sought refuge in the Indonesian Embassy in Dili, and that he had reports of some Indonesians crossing the border into West Timor. Arifin said that the Indonesian military presence on the border was unchanged. Foreign Minister Wirajuda, he said, was traveling in the Middle East with President Yudhoyono, and no senior DFA official had requested a briefing on developments in East Timor. We told Arifin that we were watching the situation in East Timor closely, and would stay in close touch with the GOI in the event that the situation there deteriorated. PASCOE