East Timor bishop calls for calm political process<\/p>\n
FATIMA, Portugal (Reuters): Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop
\nXimenes Belo on Sunday urged political groups in East Timor to
\nsettle their differences peacefully as the Asian territory
\nprepares for full independence.<\/p>\n
Ximenes Belo described the political situation in the former
\nPortuguese colony, currently under transitional administration by
\nthe United Nations, as \"somewhat troubled\".<\/p>\n
\"The violence in 1999 was enough and we have to live in a
\nclimate of democracy, albeit with different ideas and political
\nviews, and we have to accept each other,\" the Bishop said at the
\nFatima shrine in Portugal, in comments broadcast by local media.<\/p>\n
In 1999, pro-Indonesian militias spread a wave of killing and
\ndestruction in East Timor after people voted overwhelmingly to
\nend 24 years of often brutal rule from Jakarta in a UN-sponsored
\nreferendum.<\/p>\n
Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao recently resigned
\nas president of the territory's interim parliament in protest at
\nwhat he said was political chaos.<\/p>\n
Ximenes Belo, who was on a pilgrimage to Fatima, one of Roman
\nCatholicism's most revered sites, thought that in East Timor:
\n\"There are parties with a certain radicalism.\"<\/p>\n
He also noted two conflicting political currents in the
\nterritory, which was annexed by Indonesia in 1975 in the
\naftermath of a revolution in former colonial power Portugal. It
\nwas a move never recognized by the United Nations.<\/p>\n
\"We have a certain contrast: some say they do not want
\ndemocracy, because they already have the bitter experience of a
\ncivil war in 1974 and 1975,\" Ximenes Belo said.<\/p>\n
\"But on the other hand we are on our way towards a pluralistic
\nsociety,\" he added.<\/p>\n
East Timor is due to elect a constituent assembly in August,
\nwhich will then have 90 days to draft a constitution, in line
\nwith a target of achieving full independence by the end of this
\nyear, although UN peacekeepers are expected to stay on.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-bishop-calls-for-calm-political-process-1447893297",
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