East Timor rival factions sign pact<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): East Timor's rival factions signed a disarmament
\nagreement at the Ministry of Justice here on Friday, as the
\nUnited Nations mission in the troubled territory accused the
\nIndonesian Military of helping militia groups intimidate
\nvillagers and assault one old man.<\/p>\n
The agreement was signed by jailed independence leader Jose
\nAlexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao, president of the Resistance Council of
\nEast Timor (CNRT), and Leandro Isaac, a member of CNRT.<\/p>\n
Signing for the prointegration faction were Domingus Soares
\nfrom the Forum for Peace, Democracy and Justice and civilian
\nmilitia commander Joao da Silva Tavares.<\/p>\n
Pro and anti-independence leaders grouped in the Commission
\nfor Peace and Stability (KPS), which was set up following a
\nmilitary-brokered peace deal in the East Timor capital of Dili on
\nApril 21, also called on their respective followers to end
\nhostilities.<\/p>\n
\"We have agreed to call on all followers from the CNRT and its
\norganization Falintil (its armed wing) and the prointegration
\nfaction with its mass organizations to lay down all forms of
\nfirearms, grenades, explosives, homemade weapons and traditional
\nweapons such as spears, arrows, machetes and others to the
\nauthorities, or police in this case, under the supervision of the
\nKPS,\" the seven-point agreement says.<\/p>\n
The police, under an agreement signed in May by Indonesia,
\nPortugal and the United Nations, are responsible for security for
\nthe August ballot in which East Timorese will choose between
\nindependence or autonomy within Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The document says that both factions \"agreed to stop enmity or
\nviolence and to stop legal violations against anyone or any
\ngroup\".<\/p>\n
It says that both factions \"will invite all followers to
\nactively participate in the popular consultation, from the voter
\nregistration period to the polling day\".<\/p>\n
The document also says that \"the violations of the agreement
\nwill be referred to the KPS to be forwarded to the authorities\".<\/p>\n
Also present at the signing were representatives from the Dili
\nChurch, local military and police, the United Nations Mission in
\nEast Timor and rights organizations.<\/p>\n
The signatories then met Minister of Defense and Security
\n\/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto.<\/p>\n
He said the agreement, the second regarding disarmament of the
\ndisputing parties after the peace pact in Dili, was only \"a moral
\nguarantee\".<\/p>\n
Violations from both sides would be handled by the Indonesian
\npolice, in line with the New York agreement of May 5 regarding
\nthe ballot, Wiranto said.<\/p>\n
He also denied UNAMET's statement that said its officers had
\nwitnessed Indonesian soldiers directing violent actions against
\ncivilians on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim
\nOrganization, Abdurrahman Wahid, said on Friday that he will
\nleave for East Timor later this month to try to persuade East
\nTimorese to fully accept the result of the August ballot.<\/p>\n
Accusations<\/p>\n
The United Nations said in Dili on Friday that its officers
\nsaw soldiers directing pro-Jakarta East Timorese militiamen
\nburning houses and beating up an old man.<\/p>\n
\"Our team encountered... groups of Besi Merah Putih militia,
\naccompanied and directed by TNI (the Indonesian Military)
\nsoldiers and witnessed those groups in the act of burning
\nproperty and assaulting an old man,\" UNAMET chief Ian Martin told
\nreporters in Dili.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said militiamen armed with machetes looted houses in
\nLeotela village, 30 kilometers west of Dili, before dousing them
\nwith petrol and lighting them. Martin said the militias wanted to
\ndrive people out of the village.<\/p>\n
The violence between pro and anti-independence factions in
\nEast Timor has been on the rise since Jakarta said in January it
\nwould let go the territory if its people rejected an autonomy
\noffer.<\/p>\n
Martin added that the United Nations had also discovered
\nseveral home-made guns on Thursday at the house of a militia
\nmember.<\/p>\n
\"These things we have reported and taken up at senior levels
\nwith the Indonesian Military and police because they make clear
\nhow much still remains to be done if conditions of security are
\nto be created for the popular consultation,\" Martin said.<\/p>\n
\"We remain very seriously concerned indeed about the security
\nsituation, especially... in the western districts.\"<\/p>\n
Martin also said East Timorese officials were campaigning
\nagainst independence in contravention of a deal between Portugal
\nand Indonesia signed at the United Nations in May.<\/p>\n
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan must decide by Wednesday if
\nconditions in the troubled territory are right for a fair vote.
\nMartin declined to comment on the possibility of a delay.
\n(33\/byg\/imn\/rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-rival-factions-sign-pact-1447893297",
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