Albright: Caution In East Timor

The United States said Friday that it would like an international presence in troubled East Timor, possibly involving the United Nations, and pleaded for peace elsewhere in troubled Indonesia.

"(The presence) could be regional, it could be a U.N. presence or a mixture," a senior State Department official said following talks between visiting U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Indonesian President B.J. Habibie.

Albright implored Habibie Friday not to allow East Timor to break down in bloody violence if the territory chooses independence over remaining an autonomous part of his country.

"A cycle of violence will not lead to a resolution," Albright said, referring to both the question of East Timor's future and June 7 parliamentary elections. "What we have been supporting is a nonviolent approach and free and fair and open elections."

Habibie, in turn, vowed not to let the territory erupt as it did in 1975, when the Portuguese abandoned what was then its colony and before Indonesia took over.

"We will not walk away," Habibie told Albright during a nearly two-hour meeting with her at the presidential palace, said a senior U.S. official who was present.

Albright met afterward with Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, a separatist East Timorese rebel leader now under house arrest.

He revealed to her his blueprint plan for determining East Timor's future, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Gusmao suggested elections could be held to select representatives from about a dozen districts in East Timor. Those representatives could then decide whether or not to accept an autonomy plan, which is being negotiated with the help of the United Nations, the official said.

In a turnaround from former President Suharto's regime, which fell in May after 32 years of rule, Habibie said earlier this year that East Timor could become independent if a majority of its people rejected autonomy.

The government ruled out holding a referendum, fearing it could lead to more violence between separatists and those seeking autonomy.

Gusmao and Albright agreed that an international peacekeeping presence would likely be needed, the U.S. official said, but not necessarily a U.N. force.

International monitors would ensure combatants were disarmed. They would train new security forces to replace the Indonesian military.

Gusmao, jailed in 1992 for leading separatists seeking independence for East Timor, asked Albright to press the government to release him and dozens of other political prisoners, some of whom have been held for decades and are now in their 70s.

"We spoke specifically about the importance of human rights and allowing people the possibility of participating within the various democratic processes," Albright said during a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Ali Alatas at the presidential palace.

Habibie's governmenhas suggested Gusmao could be released as part of a plan to ease tensions while deciding whether East Timor, a half-island territory of 850,000 people, should gain autonomy or independence.

Albright urged the government to further investigate alleged abuses by the military, U.S. officials said.

With nearly 50 political parties qualified to participate in June 7 parliamentary elections, Albright also heralded a "new spirit of democracy that is blossoming here."

The voting will lead to selection of a new president by a special assembly later this year.