Australia decided to support East Timorese independence many months before a referendum in 1999, but publicly maintained the line that it should remain part of Indonesia, a report said on Saturday.
In an interview for a book about modern Australian politics, former prime minister John Howard said he had believed East Timor’s independence was “inevitable.”
But “one had to be careful about handling that publicly,” Howard told author Paul Kelly.
“You had to get the Indonesians to agree,” he said, according to an extract of the book published in the Australian newspaper.
Kelly said Howard’s foreign minister Alexander Downer told him in January 1999 that “there is now a very good chance East Timor will be independent by the end of this year, and we intend to go along with this.”
But they kept their intentions secret from their own defense department and also from Jakarta, hoping to hold the peace, Kelly said.
“Australia’s [public and military] objectives were having East Timor remain part of Indonesia, ensuring ties with Jakarta were put before the fate of East Timor, retaining Australia’s military ties with Indonesia and avoiding any Australian defense force deployment if possible,” Kelly said.
“While telling Indonesia that autonomy would be the best result Howard and Downer, as 1999 advanced, became willing backers of an independent East Timor,” Kelly wrote.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS