Regional concern after Wahid ouster

East Timorese cabinet member for foreign affairs Jose Ramos Horta (R) said he believed commonsense and pragmatism would prevail

By CNN's Kirsty Alfredson

HANOI, Vietnam (CNN) -- Admitting there is a risk the fallout from Indonesia's political upheaval may spread throughout the region, its South East Asian neighbors say they hope the matter will be dealt with internally.

The ten members of ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) meeting in Vietnam this week have been monitoring the situation in Jakarta with concern.

"We are very concerned but we have a principal in ASEAN that we do not intervene or interfere with internal problems of a nation within our ASEAN community," Philippines Vice-President and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teofisto T. Guingona told CNN.

Guingona said he understood the problems in Jakarta "because we went through a similar problem in the Philippines" and agreed there was a chance the turmoil in Indonesia could spread.

IN DEPTH Shadows over Indonesia     RESOURCES Message Board  Wahid impeachment?   COUNTRY PROFILE At a glance: Indonesia Provided by CountryWatch.com    CNN.com Asia More news from our Asia edition

"Yes there's a possibility, but until that happens we are hoping that it will not and somehow or other a solution can be found in Indonesia."

ASEAN role

Ousted Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has in the past warned that if he is impeached the troublesome provinces of Aceh and West Papua would break away.

But East Timorese cabinet member for foreign affairs Jose Ramos Horta said he believed commonsense and pragmatism would prevail and that the archipelago would not fracture.

Horta said ASEAN had a role to play by helping "privately and discreetly in the ASEAN way." However there was not much beyond that that could be done, he said.

"By and large what everyone has to do is to watch carefully without interfering but support forcefully, creatively, generously if and when the new government takes place, if and when the situation stabilizes and the political picture is clear," he said

"That's when Indonesia's friends like the U.S., Japan, the EU, and Australia must intervene to support the economic recovery of Indonesia," he said in Hanoi where East Timor has observer status.

Call for peace

Horta worked closely with Wahid who shepherded East Timor's transition to independence.

"What he would do, I believe [from] knowing him, would be to call for peace, call for calm, call on his followers not to go to the streets to accept the verdict of the Consultative Assembly because otherwise the options are far worse than what Gus Dur [Wahid] always wanted and that is peace for his people," he said.

"If indeed President Gus Dur goes I would hope that he goes as he always was, with compassion, with moderation and dignity," Horta said.

In his opening address at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting the Prime Minister of Vietnam Phan Van Khai told delegates the organization was "fully aware" of the costs of socio-political and macro-economic instability that each country and the whole region have to pay.

"The 1997-1998 financial and economic crisis has clearly demonstrated to us that the rise and fall of any country in the region would have an impact on others".

The speech was written before the tremulous events in Indonesia.