East Timor proposal 'risky', says Megawati<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (Agencies): Leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party
\nof Struggle Megawati Soekarnoputri has criticized Jakarta's
\npolicy of considering independence for East Timor as risky, Time
\nmagazine said Sunday.<\/p>\n
Time quoted her as saying the momentum towards independence
\nfor the former Portuguese colony should be slowed down.<\/p>\n
\"East Timor is a complicated issue. It needs careful handling.
\nI would like to consider it from the point of view of regional
\nstability,\" she said in an interview with the magazine.<\/p>\n
The interview appears in Time's June 7 issue, which will reach
\nreaders in Asia the week beginning May 31.<\/p>\n
\"The mistake of (incumbent President) Habibie's government is
\nerratic policies that create more problems than solutions.<\/p>\n
\"There are more killings in East Timor now. In the end it
\ndestabilizes the country, particularly when we are in an economic
\ncrisis,\" she said, adding that allowing East Timorese to vote on
\nindependence was a \"risky\" policy.<\/p>\n
The Habibie government on May 5 signed a deal with Portugal
\nunder which East Timorese will vote on Aug. 8 in the presence of
\na UN task force, on whether they want independence or to remain a
\npart of Indonesia with greater autonomy, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, the results of the vote will be presented
\nto the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which can either
\naccept or reject them.<\/p>\n
Megawati, the daughter of Indonesia's founding president
\nSukarno, has said before that she disagrees with Habibie's
\npolicy, pledging to uphold her father's vision of a unified
\nIndonesia if she came to power.<\/p>\n
The Time interview was the first time she had publicly
\nrepeated her objections since the May 5 agreement.<\/p>\n
CNRT leader<\/p>\n
In a related development, Leandro Isaac, one of the Timor
\nNational Resistance Council (CNRT) leaders, left police
\nheadquarters in Dili on Saturday, after sheltering there for 40
\ndays.<\/p>\n
Leandro and his family made the decision to return home after
\nreceiving a security guarantee from East Timor Police chief Col.
\nTimbul Silaen.<\/p>\n
Isaac and other CNRT leaders sheltered at police headquarters
\nafter mid-April violence -- allegedly carried out by
\nprointegration militia -- in which at least 12 people were
\nkilled, AP reported.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, on Saturday, provincial police spokesman Capt.
\nWidodo disclosed that police had questioned a civilian guard,
\nbelieved to have shot farmer Domingus Gustavo, a day before at
\nDato village, Liquica regency.<\/p>\n
Widodo, however, refused to identify the suspect, who is a
\nmember of the People's Resistance Force (Wanra), and was
\nstationed at Dato village, about 40 kilometers east of the
\nprovincial capital of Dili.<\/p>\n
\"The shooter mistakenly identified the 60-year-old victim as a
\nmember of Falintil,\" Widodo said, referring to the CNRT's armed
\nwing.<\/p>\n
Both CNRT and Falintil are chaired by jailed East Timorese
\nresistance leader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao, who the
\ngovernment has promised to release if the ballot runs smoothly.<\/p>\n
Tension has mounted in the former Portuguese colony since
\nIndonesia's announcement in January that it would let the East
\nTimorese decide between independence and autonomy within
\nIndonesia at a UN-sponsored referendum scheduled for Aug. 8.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Saturday that about 20 members
\nof a prointegration group drank a mixture of blood and whiskey
\nbefore pledging their support for integration with Indonesia at
\nKotolau village, nestled in mountains some 12 kilometers south of
\nthe capital Dili.<\/p>\n
\"I will live and die for integration,\" some 20 villagers
\nswore, after pricking their fingers and mixing the blood in a
\nbowl of local whiskey.<\/p>\n
Local legislator Ricardino Sarmento dos Rios told the group
\nthat East Timor would be racked by a civil war if proindependent
\nforces won the direct ballot.<\/p>\n
\"East Timor will see a return to savage bloodshed,\" he told
\nthe news agency. (33)<\/p>",
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