VZCZCXRO0035
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHHM
DE RUEHDT #0351 2990939
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 260939Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3747
INFO RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0999
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON IMMEDIATE 0980
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 3147

UNCLAS DILI 000351 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MTS AND EAP/MLS - COPE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ASEAN PO SG TT BM
SUBJECT: TIMOR-LESTE TO PRESS FOR ASEAN ENGAGEMENT ON BURMA 
 
REF: STATE 00146862 
 
¶1. (SBU) Per reftel, Ambassador met October 26 with Timor-Leste 
Foreign Minister Zacarias Albano Da Costa to urge that 
Timor-Leste, as a candidate for accession to ASEAN, explore ways 
to press Burma.  We stressed the importance of the issue to the 
United States, and expressed our appreciation for President 
Ramos-Horta's strong remarks of concern and disappointment with 
the deteriorating political and social conditions in Burma in 
his speech before the U.N. General Assembly. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Da Costa said that he and Ramos-Horta had already 
strategized on the Burma issue in preparation for their upcoming 
foreign travel.  The Foreign Minister will visit Jakarta this 
weekend and then join the President on his official visit to 
Portugal mid-November.  The Foreign Minister will also stop in 
Singapore next month.  Timor-Leste, Da Costa said, supports 
formation of a five-man ASEAN Wise Men commission to produce a 
road map for reform in Burma, linking its adoption to a package 
of economic incentives.  Da Costa said he hoped creation of this 
Commission would be announced at the next ASEAN Summit in 
Singapore on November 18 - 22.  In Jakarta, he said, they would 
urge President Yudhoyono and Foreign Minister Wirajuda to 
support the proposal.  They would also raise the issue in 
meetings with Indonesian parliamentarians.  Da Costa said he 
would pursue the matter in Singapore as well, where he is set to 
meet with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. 
 
RECTOR