Indonesia, Portugal See Timor Progress

Indonesia and Portugal took a big step toward breaking a long-standing deadlock over the disputed territory of East Timor by agreeing to discuss Indonesian plans for granting it a “special status, based on a wide-ranging autonomy.” A communique issued after two days of talks at the U.N. between Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Abdullah Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama, said it was hoped that an agreement could be reached by year’s end.