ABRI's handling of Timor riot soluted<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Two special envoys from the United Nations
\nsecretary general have hailed the military's success in ending
\nthe recent riot in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Frances Vendrell and Tamarat Samuel told the local military
\ncommander in a meeting in Dili over the weekend of their deep
\nappreciation to the Armed Forces (ABRI) for the way they solved
\nthe riot without a single casualty.<\/p>\n
Dozens of local youths on Nov.12 staged a protest rally,
\nconfronting security officers and stoning passing cars. The
\nprotest, which took place two days before the Asia- Pacific
\neconomic leaders meeting in Bogor and coincided with the third
\nanniversary of the bloody riot in the provincial capital in 1991,
\nreceived full coverage from foreign electronic media.<\/p>\n
The special envoys were in East Timor on a fact-finding
\nmission in preparation for the fourth tripartite meeting between
\nthe United Nations secretary general and Indonesian and
\nPortuguese foreign ministers in Geneva next month.<\/p>\n
The two left Dili for Jakarta on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Vendrel and Samuel said in a meeting with East Timor military
\ncommander Col. Kiki Syahnakri that they saw positive elements in
\nthe way the ABRI overcame the riot and respected their self-
\nrestraint, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The two also expressed regret over reports filed by foreign
\nmedia claiming that one person was killed as the military tried
\nto stop the demonstration.<\/p>\n
They said that after checking data collected from various
\nparties, they came to the conclusion that the press reports were
\ngroundless.<\/p>\n
Vendrell also said that ABRI's doctrine is different from
\nthose of armed forces in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
He said that the ABRI's program to develop villages is a
\nspecial feature of the doctrine.<\/p>\n
Denied<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Col. Kiki denied on Saturday that he had asked
\nforeign journalists to leave the former Portuguese colony.<\/p>\n
\"Never has the government had any intention to do so since
\nEast Timor integrated into Indonesia in 1976,\" he said to Antara.<\/p>\n
Several journalists had to leave the area after having
\n\"violated the rules of the game. They were not aware of the fact
\nthat this country has its own regulations and journalistic code
\nof ethics.\"<\/p>\n
Kiki said that those asked to leave were journalists who came
\nwith tourist visas but involved themselves in journalistic
\nactivities during their stay.<\/p>\n
\"Many newsmen have come here to make groundless reports.\"
\nHe said the journalists only filed news stories about negative
\naspects of the province and never paid attention to what ABRI had
\ndone in the development program there.<\/p>\n
Kiki expressed the hope that the two UN envoys would convey
\nthe truth about ABRI's activities in East Timor to the
\ninternational community. (tis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/abris-handling-of-timor-riot-soluted-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}