September 08, 1999 
| | |
| ||
| September 08, 1999 | atimes.com | |
| ||
| Southeast Asia Timor Gap Treaty in peril JAKARTA - The Timor Gap Treaty between Indonesia and Australia is on the line following the vote for independence by East Timor. Commission V of Indonesia's House of Representatives, which deals with trade, has told the government that ''the Timor Gap Treaty should be immediately re-evaluated and cancelled''. Commission V chairman Marzuki Achmad said Indonesia still had the opportunity to retain some parts of the Gap area as future talks will discuss in detail which parts belong to Indonesia, East Timor and Australia. The Timor Gap Treaty was signed by Indonesia and Australia in 1989, specifying that one zone of the Gap belongs to both countries, one belongs to Australia and the third to Indonesia. Another member of Commission V suggested the holding of bilateral talks between Jakarta and Canberra. ''Since the treaty was signed by Indonesia and Australia, the issue should be further discussed bilaterally. And after that, tripartite talks between Indonesia, Australia and East Timor can be then carried out,'' commission member A Walid said. Out of the three zones, only the ''A'' zone, owned by Australia and Indonesia, has been exploited. The zone is thought to have reserves of 900 million barrels of petroleum. (Asia Pulse/ANTARA) | |||||||||
 |
|
Front | China | Southeast Asia | Japan | Koreas | India/Pakistan | Central Asia/Russia | Oceania Business Briefs | Global Economy | Asian Crisis | Media/IT | Editorials | Letters | Search/Archive |
back to the top ©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd. |
