Dili tense as deadline for 'extermination' passes<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): East Timor's capital of Dili was tense but
\nquiet on Saturday despite a threat by a pro-Jakarta group to
\nbegin cleansing the city of independence supporters.<\/p>\n
\"I went to bed around 4 a.m. and I did not hear of any
\nviolence in Dili so far,\" said a spokeswoman for the
\nproindependence National Council for the Timorese Resistance,
\nReuters reported.<\/p>\n
Amnesty International said on Thursday that a group calling
\nitself Red Blood Commando had circulated a document in Dili in
\nwhich it vowed to attack independence supporters beginning on
\nmidnight on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"After the passing of the deadline, we will conclude that
\neveryone left in Dili, be they man or woman, old or young, child
\nor adult, is an anti-integrationist who should and must be
\nexterminated and wiped out,\" the document said.<\/p>\n
A ballot on the government's autonomy offer for East Timor is
\ndue to be held in August, but some observers fear the pro-Jakarta
\nmilitia, with military backing, is attempting to derail the vote
\nthrough violence and intimidation.<\/p>\n
On Friday, 11 bodies, which police said were possibly of
\nprointegration militia members, were found in an irrigation ditch
\nin Ermera regency, southwest of Dili.<\/p>\n
AFP reported police on Saturday questioned six people
\nregarding the mass grave in Bauhati hamlet, Hatolia subdistrict.<\/p>\n
Violence in East Timor has escalated since January, when
\nJakarta said it would grant the former Portuguese colony
\nindependence if the Timorese rejected its offer of autonomy.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the management and staff of Suara Timor Timur (STT)
\ndaily are preparing to publish again on Monday after their office
\nwas attacked by prointegration groups on April 17. An iron gate
\nwill be installed in front of the office's entrance and police
\nwill guard the office for at least three months, a reporter told
\nThe Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
A day before the attack, the paper printed a statement from
\nDili-based prointegration leader Eurico Guterres guaranteeing the
\nsafety of all reporters, both foreign and local.<\/p>\n
Reporters were attacked in Liquica regency a day before the
\nalleged murder of at least 25 people on April 6. Reporters also
\nhave been threatened while attempting to reach areas of reported
\nunrest. Reporters from STT said intelligence officers had
\nattempted to contact them over the past few days.<\/p>\n
Pro-Indonesian militia in the Bobonaro district on Friday
\nassaulted and threatened to kill an East Timorese working as an
\ninterpreter for an Australian journalist, Brian Woodley of The
\nAustralian daily told AFP on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Also on Saturday, Reuters reported that the European Union in
\na statement said it was \"deeply concerned\" by reports that
\nprointegration militia had physically threatened activists
\ncampaigning for independence.<\/p>\n
The EU called on the Indonesian government to ensure its
\nmilitary met its obligation to keep the peace in the territory.<\/p>\n
As part of the peace effort in East Timor, Antara reported
\nthat the new Commission for Stability and Peace held talks which
\nwere attended by Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, one of
\nthe commission's members. The commission was launched by the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/dili-tense-as-deadline-for-extermination-passes-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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