Minister Andrews meets East Timor Delegation

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr David Andrews, TD, has discussed the situation in East Timor with the Chairman of the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, Mr Tom Hyland who was accompanied by a number of young East Timoreans.

Mr Andrews said that his meeting with Mr Hyland indicated the priority he attached to keeping himself informed of the views non-governmental organisations with an active interest in international issues. Mr Andrews said that he appreciated the work being done by the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign in keeping the Irish public up-to-date with the situation in East Timor. He added that he had a longstanding concern about East Timor and would continue carefully to monitor developments there.

Minister Andrews said that he was supportive of the efforts undertaken by President Nelson Mandela to secure the release from prison of the East Timor leader, Xanana Gusmao, and hoped that these would be fruitful. He said that he would seek to ensure that the Government did all it could, including within the EU, to encourage international efforts to promote a satisfactory resolution to the conflict in East Timor which has now lasted for almost a quarter of a century. Top