Four killed in separate attacks in East Timor<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): Four people were shot dead in two
\nseparate clashes in East Timor on Monday, police and military
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The first clash took place when proindependence guerrillas
\nambushed a car carrying six men, including a local official and
\nsoldiers, on a road outside of Maligu village in Bobonaro
\nregency, about 165 kilometers southwest of Dili, the spokesman
\nfor the East Timor Police, Capt. Widodo, said.<\/p>\n
He said Manuel Soares Gama, a 51-year-old local official, died
\ninstantly. Army Pvt. Angelino Asa Bere, 40, died later at a
\nhospital in the nearby town of Maliana.<\/p>\n
The four who survived the attack were the car's driver, two
\nemployees of a local electricity plant and an Army corporal.<\/p>\n
Widodo said security forces were searching for the attackers.<\/p>\n
In a separate incident, troops killed two rebel guerrillas in
\nan armed clash near Ermera regency, 60 kilometers southwest of
\nDili, on early Monday, East Timor deputy military chief Col.
\nMudjiono said.<\/p>\n
Violence between proindependence and prointegration groups has
\nescalated since the government's announcement in January that it
\nwould let the troubled province go if its wide-range autonomy
\nproposal was rejected by the East Timorese.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, chairman of the National Commission on Human
\nRights Marzuki Darusman said on Monday the government needed to
\nclarify the confusion over the number of casualties in an attack
\non proindependence supporters in Liquica last week.<\/p>\n
The Armed Forces (ABRI) insists five people were killed in the
\nattack. Dili Bishop and Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Carlos
\nFilipe Ximenes Belo said at least 25 people were killed in the
\nviolence.<\/p>\n
\"We need a third party to clarify the issue fairly and
\nopenly ... so (the matter) does not aggravate and complicate the
\nalready difficult situation there,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the rights commission, Clementino dos
\nReis Amaral, said last Friday the rights body would send a fact-
\nfinding team to the province this week to investigate the attack.<\/p>\n
Also in Jakarta on Monday, President B.J. Habibie summoned
\nseveral Cabinet members to finalize the draft of the government's
\nautonomy proposal for East Timor. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
\nAlatas said he hoped the final document would be completed on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
Alatas said the government was being very careful in drafting
\nthe proposal because it wanted to submit a comprehensive
\ndocument.<\/p>\n
\"Do not expect spectacular progress because this work must be
\nconducted carefully,\" Alatas said.<\/p>\n
Habibie's adviser on foreign affairs, Dewi Fortuna Anwar,
\ndisclosed details of the draft in an interview with The Jakarta
\nPost on Saturday. According to Dewi, who is actively involved in
\ndrafting the proposal, the plan is similar to the autonomy China
\ngave Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Alatas described Dewi's statement as speculation. \"Hong Kong
\nis Hong Kong, Timtim (East Timor) is Timtim,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Dewi met with Habibie after his meeting with the Cabinet
\nministers.<\/p>\n
\"I still cannot specifically disclose the contents of the
\npackage because if I elaborate it will violate procedures,\"
\nAlatas said about his agreement with United Nations Secretary-
\nGeneral Kofi Annan and Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs
\nJaime Gama.<\/p>\n
Alatas indicated he would meet with Gama under the auspices of
\nthe United Nations later this month.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a visiting emissary of Pope John Paul II called on
\nEast Timorese in Dili on Monday to pray for peace in the troubled
\nterritory.<\/p>\n
The call was read out by Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia
\nMonsignor Renzo Fratini during a Mass attended by 5,000 people,
\n60 priests and 150 nuns in Dili Cathedral.<\/p>\n
\"Pope John Paul II sends his warm regards to Catholics and all
\npeople of East Timor ... and hopefully peace and justice will
\nbloom here ... ,\" Fratini said.<\/p>\n
\"All East Timorese must try to establish unity and peace so
\nthat harmonious coexistence can soon be realized,\" Fratini quoted
\nthe Pope as saying.<\/p>\n
Fratini, who arrived in Dili on Saturday, has met with
\nfarmers, fishermen and traders, and also has visited thousands of
\nyouths in the town of Manatuto, 64 kilometers east of Dili.<\/p>\n
He is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Fratini said he understood the differences in political views
\namong East Timorese but pleaded that the differences not result
\nin violence.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta, about 150 East Timorese students rallied on the
\ncampus of Gadjah Mada University on Monday in support of a call
\nby East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\"
\nGusmao for proindependence groups to fight back against
\nprointegration forces.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, hundreds of East Timorese students in the Central
\nJava capital of Semarang have begun leaving for East Timor in
\norder to participate in the United Nations-sponsored direct
\nballot to determine the province's future. The ballot is
\nscheduled for July. (23\/33\/44\/byg\/har\/prb)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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