East Timor students stage counter rally<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): About 100 East Timorese students in this
\nancient city staged a counter rally yesterday in response to
\nMonday's pro-integration demonstration in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
They strongly rejected the claims made by a group of about 30
\npro-integration activists, who met with officials in Jakarta to
\nreassert their allegiance to the government.<\/p>\n
In the demonstration in Jakarta, the pro-government activists
\ncondemned East Timorese separatist leader in exile Ramos Horta,
\nwho shared this year's Nobel Peace Prize with Dili Bishop Carlos
\nFilipe Ximenes Belo.<\/p>\n
The students arrived at the legislative council near the
\nMalioboro business district at about 11 a.m., shouting slogans
\nand carrying banners.<\/p>\n
In their statement submitted to the councilor, the students
\nsaid the pro-integration activists did not have any mandate to
\nclaim that they represent all of the East Timorese people.<\/p>\n
"They do not have enough knowledge about East Timorese
\naffairs," the students said. "They think that the East Timorese
\nproblem is the affair of a certain group."<\/p>\n
They reaffirmed their support for the Nobel committee's choice
\nof Belo and Horta, whom they said most deserved it.<\/p>\n
The students urged the government to involve Belo, Horta and
\nXanana Gusmao, an East Timorese rebel now jailed in Jakarta, in
\nthe peace talks on East Timor.<\/p>\n
They reiterated the demand that the government free all
\npolitical prisoners, including East Timorese ones.<\/p>\n
The protesters dispersed peacefully at 1:15 p.m. Three
\nmilitary trucks took them back to their dormitory, about eight
\nkilometers north of Malioboro. (23\/pan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/east-timor-students-stage-counter-rally-1447893297",
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