Jailed Xanana outlines East Timor program<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jailed East Timor resistance leader Jose
\nAlexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao promised on Wednesday to offer amnesty
\nto his political opponents if East Timorese voted for
\nindependence on the Aug. 30 ballot.<\/p>\n
\"This act of generosity transcends our emotions, heals wounds
\nand elevates the soul of our people. I wholeheartedly appeal for
\nan immediate end to violence,\" he said in a press conference at
\nhis detention house in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The press conference was conducted in three languages in
\nsuccession: Portuguese, English and Indonesian. More than 50
\nlocal and foreign journalists attended.<\/p>\n
In his first comprehensive program proposal for an independent
\nEast Timor to be renamed Timor Lorosae, Xanana said he would
\nimmediately hold negotiations with the Indonesian government to
\ndefine the status of East Timorese civil servants, maintain the
\nrupiah currency and protect the rights of Indonesians who decided
\nto live and work in East Timor.<\/p>\n
At least 460,000 people have been registered inside and
\noutside East Timor to participate in the ballot.<\/p>\n
Xanana said if the vote favored proindependence, a
\ntransitional government would set up a five-year development plan
\nstarting from the year 2000.<\/p>\n
Xanana shied away from the issue of disarmament despite the
\ncontinuing violence that rocked the former Portuguese colony.<\/p>\n
Five days before the ballot only a few symbolic gestures of
\narms surrender have been carried out by the prointegration
\nmilitia. The proindependence militia, Falintil, has said it would
\nnot give up its arms to the Indonesian Military.<\/p>\n
In his eight-page statement covering at least 15 points,
\nXanana called for the East Timorese to reconcile their
\ndifferences and uphold national unity. He declared a fight
\nagainst illiteracy and promised empowerment of the society as
\nwell as a self-sufficient economy based on a market economy with
\nselective intervention from the state.<\/p>\n
He declared that solidarity with the Portuguese people is
\nunbreakable.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Reuters reported from Vatican City that Pope John
\nPaul on Wednesday called for reconciliation in East Timor and for
\nan end to recent violence in Ambon, Maluku.<\/p>\n
Speaking at his weekly general audience, the pontiff said he
\nhoped the people of East Timor would be moved by \"a sincere
\ndesire to work for reconciliation and contribute to healing the
\npainful wounds of the past\".<\/p>\n
In the East Timor capital of Dili, a sea of people from all
\nwalks of life took to the streets marking the last day of
\ncampaigning for the proindependence faction for Monday's landmark
\nvote on the territory's future.<\/p>\n
Except for a traffic accident that killed two students and
\nbrief tension near a pro-integration office, the rally went
\nwithout any trouble. Men and women, boys and girls, youths and
\nelders mingled in a cheerful parade, which was flagged off at the
\nNational Resistance Council for an Independent East Timor (CNRT)
\nheadquarters in Lesidere subdistrict.<\/p>\n
Days of street rallies finally claimed lives with the deaths
\nof Lorenzo Fernandez, a 16-year-old student of a state-run junior
\nhigh school, and a vocational school student, Alberto Gamma
\nPinto, also 16. A garbage truck that carried them in the parade
\ncapsized when it took a bend and fell on the teenagers on Jl.
\nAbilio Monteiro in downtown Dili.<\/p>\n
Twelve other passengers were injured and admitted to Dili
\nGeneral Hospital and Montael polyclinic. Spokesman for provincial
\npolice Capt. Widodo said the driver, Antonio de Jesus, was
\narrested on charges of negligence.<\/p>\n
\"Do or die for independence,\" the participants of the
\nmotorcade repeatedly shouted.<\/p>\n
Displaying pictures of CNRT president Xanana Gusmao and waving
\nthe council's blue, white and green flag, the crowd danced and
\nsang patriotic songs during the two-hour function at the CNRT
\noffice. Some of the songs were banned in the past.<\/p>\n
The people yelled with their hands clenched in a victory sign
\nin response to spirited speeches delivered by proindependence
\nfigures, who included Manuel Carrascalao. A recorded speech by
\nself-exiled leader Jose Ramos-Horta was also played to the
\naudience.<\/p>\n
Manuel, who has been in hiding in Jakarta since an assault
\nthat killed his 17-year-old son in April, told the
\nproindependence crowd to refrain from taking revenge for a series
\nof attacks from the opposing side.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a planned meeting between leaders of pro-Jakarta
\nmilitia and proindependence armed wing Falintil was postponed. A
\nmember of the Commission for Security and Stability (KPS),
\nKoesparmono Irsan, said the Falintil leaders cited security
\nreasons for not turning up for the meeting.<\/p>\n
KPS chief Djoko Sugianto said the meeting was rescheduled for
\nThursday. (06\/33\/byg\/amd)<\/p>",
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