Jakarta warns East Timor against accusing militiamen<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government has warned newly established East Timor that it
\nrisks hurting bilateral relations with Indonesia by blaming
\nformer militia members for security disturbances there.<\/p>\n
East Timor, Indonesia's former 27th province, has accused
\nformer militia members of involvement in an armed attack in
\nTiarelelo and Loubeno villages that killed four people and
\ninjured 12 others last Sunday.<\/p>\n
East Timor foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta also blamed
\nmilitiamen for a one-day riot that left two dead and dozens of
\nbuildings destroyed in Dili in December.<\/p>\n
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Wednesday
\nthat pro-Jakarta militia groups no longer existed and the riots
\nwere a domestic issue of the new state.<\/p>\n
\"They (the accusations) could create unhealthy bilateral
\nrelations between the two countries,\" Hassan said after meeting
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
He further said that there was no connection at all between
\nthe riots and the Indonesian government, just as East Timor Prime
\nMinister Mari Alkatiri had stated earlier.<\/p>\n
\"It was refugees who returned to East Timor who were rioting,
\nso basically it was their own citizens,\" Hassan said.<\/p>\n
Pro-Jakarta militia groups, backed by the Indonesian Military
\n(TNI), went on a bloody rampage in 1999 after most East Timorese
\nvoted to separate from Indonesia in a United Nations-sponsored
\nreferendum.<\/p>\n
The carnage killed dozens of proindependence supporters and
\nforced at least 250,000 East Timorese to flee to Indonesia's West
\nTimor. At least 80 percent of the infrastructure in the former
\nPortuguese colony was also destroyed.<\/p>\n
Eighteen military and police personnel as well as civilian
\nleaders were brought to trial for the violence, but most of them
\nwere acquitted.<\/p>\n
Most of the refugees, including former militia members, have
\nreturned to East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"So, it is no longer valid to accuse former militia members
\nbecause the riots may have been caused by a difficult
\nconsolidation process in the new state,\" Hassan stressed.<\/p>\n
According to Hassan, the riots took place due to widespread
\npublic disappointment over the stagnant economic condition that
\nhas led to high unemployment.<\/p>\n
\"We are aware that instability in one country can effect its
\nneighboring countries, and we hope East Timor can survive these
\ndifficult situations,\" Hassan said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jakarta-warns-east-timor-against-accusing-militiamen-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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