DR Jose Ramos Horta's two sisters in East Timor worry about his safety. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and East Timorese Foreign Minister in exile said on the eve of his visit to Dublin: "The only thing they say is to be careful that the Indonesians don't kill me."
While here he will meet the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, and opposition leaders. He will also visit the President, Mrs Robinson, whose candidature for the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights he supports warmly. There is no one better qualified," he said.
Dr Horta comes this week from Brussels where he sought the support of the EU Commission President. Mr Jacques Santer, in a call to freeze arms sales to Indonesia.
An upbeat Dr Horta (46) appealed for continued Irish support for the East Timor cause, saying: "Together we will prevail."
Indonesia has been condemned repeatedly by the UN since 1975 for its occupation of the former Portuguese colony. On Tuesday Dr Horta addressed the European Parliament.
The award last year of the Nobel prize has made an enormous difference to the cause of the people of East Timor", Dr Horta said. It had generated debate all over the world. Governments were beginning to change their attitudes, he said, praising the EU's common position on East Timor".
He compared favourably the last few years to the 1970s and 1980s, when war, genocide and disease killed some 200,000 people about a third of East Timor's population.
He was "modestly happy" with small steps" taken by the United States in the last few years. But he would like the US to express without ambiguity its position on a selfdetermination referendum in East Timor, advocated recently by President Clinton.
Washington's de facto recognition of Indonesia's 22 year occupation was "totally unacceptable" and inconsistent with its claims to support the UN Secretary General's efforts to find a solution, he added.
He welcomed very strong statements" by the US Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights, Mr John Shattock, after a recent visit to East Timor and an assurance by the British Labour foreign affairs spokesman, Mr Robin Cook, that a Labour government would support Portugal's stance on its former colony.
He was pleased with the support of the current EU Presidency, an attitude he had not expected from the Dutch, Indonesia's former colonial masters.
Dr Horta praised EU member states, including Ireland, for their initiative in putting forward a UN Human Rights Commission resolution last week. This condemned Indonesia for army killings in East Timor since 1993. Setting a precedent, Britain and the US supported the resolution.
Referring to prodemocracy unrest in Indonesia in the run up to legislative elections next month he said: "There are going to be changes. The regime is getting old."
The East Timorese diplomat is the personal representative of the rebel leader, Mr Xanana Gusmao, who is imprisoned in Jakarta. Dr Horta, in regular contact with Mr Gusmao ("through the network") said that the rebel leader sent a message of thanks and warmth to the people of Ireland".
Dr Horta's schedule includes attending the launch of an Esperanza Productions film about the four British women who disarmed a British Aerospace Hawk jet due for delivery to Indonesia; a press conference with the playwright, Harold Pinter; a public meeting in the Writers' Museum in Dublin on Saturday at 11.30 a.m. (to be opened by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Joan Burton); and the opening of East Timor Park in Ballyfermot.