§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last made representations to Indonesia about East Timor. [59283]
§ Mr. FatchettI visited Jakarta on 8 October and met President Habibie and members of his Cabinet. I reinforced our commitment to the United Nation's efforts to seek a just, comprehensive and internationally acceptable solution to the East Timor issue.
§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to(a) Indonesia and (b) Australia following the decision of the International Commission of Jurists that five Australian journalists were killed by the Indonesian Government at the time of the invasion of East Timor. [59282]
126W
§ Mr. FatchettI raised the issue of the deaths of two British born journalists in Balibo in 1975 with President Habibie in Jakarta last month. He undertook to look into the matter. We are aware of reports in Australia of new information on the incident and welcome the Australian government's decision to refer this to Mr. Tom Sherman for his consideration.