Let me say that we welcome the statements of President Habibie today that he would invite a U.N. peacekeeping force to join the Indonesian military in restoring order to East Timor. We believe that this is a positive development and hopefully represents a stepping back from the brink on the part of Indonesia from what could be a quite disastrous situation, not only for the people of East Timor, but for Indonesia and for the region as a whole. What is important now is the way and speed with which this is implemented. I was pleased that President Habibie indicated that he's dispatching his Foreign Minister Alatas to New York tomorrow to work out the details.
Details are often quite important here.
What is important to us is that the force be able to deploy promptly, that it be effective, that there not be any restrictions on it that would impede its effectiveness, and that it is able to both restore order and effectuate the will of the Timorese people as expressed in the August 30 referendum. I spoke to the President about a half an hour ago. He was pleased by these developments. As you know, he's worked very hard here in the last several days to encourage his colleagues to weigh in with the Indonesian government and urge them to take this course. We have been in continuing constant contact with the Indonesian government through Ambassador Roy, through the President, through Secretary Albright, Secretary Cohen, to various figures in the Indonesian government.