2 March 1999: DFAIT e-mail message to Canadian embassy Jakarta

Canadian activists and diplomats, long at odds, found a high degree of agreement at a round table convened by the semi-governmental Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development. Participants from NGOs in Canada and East Timor recommended “the use of the S[ecurity] C[ouncil] seat to prod the UN to act to prevent civil war in ET, and, if this fails, the implementation of some kind of ‘conflict prevention presence’ in ET as soon as possible.” This was “not far from current DFAIT thinking” but the department still felt that “an armed international conflict prevention presence is not feasible at the moment.” Canadian officials also differed with NGO figures in believing that Australia, “unpopular” with NGOs, should take the lead.