Police question Xanana over bomb making<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police questioned yesterday jailed East Timorese
\nseparatist leader Jose Alexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao over alleged
\nlinks with a bomb making operation, his lawyers said.<\/p>\n
Four police interrogators and four lawyers representing Xanana
\nfrom the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
\n(PBHI), spent most of yesterday with the jailed rebel at the
\nCipinang Prison in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Police declined to talk to reporters.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Luhut Pangaribuan said police questioned Xanana only as
\na witness and there was no indication he would face charges. He
\nsaid Xanana was in good health and good spirits, and had prepared
\nsnacks and coffee for his interrogators.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Hendardi said the questioning was completed yesterday.<\/p>\n
Xanana is currently serving a reduced 20-year jail sentence in
\nCipinang Prison. He was arrested in Dili, East Timor, in 1992,
\nafter heading the Fretilin separatist movement in its armed
\ncampaign for a separate state.<\/p>\n
Recently, the Armed Forces (ABRI) linked Xanana with an East
\nTimorese group that it said had planned to blow up civilian
\ntargets with homemade bombs in their separatist movement against
\nthe government.<\/p>\n
The alleged operation was uncovered after a blast damaged a
\nhouse, thought to be a makeshift bomb factory, in Demak, Central
\nJava, on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n
Hendardi quoted Xanana's statement in the official report of
\nthe questioning as follows: \"Accusations of terrorism were not
\ntrue at all, we never intended to use the bombs to civilian
\ntargets.<\/p>\n
\"The bombs were made to strengthen our resistance toward the
\nArmed Forces and I will take full responsibility for their
\nactivities.\"<\/p>\n
Implicated in the case are seven East Timorese who were
\narrested recently and Avelino Marie Coelho da Silva and Nuno
\nVicente Pereira Saldanha, who are seeking asylum at the Austrian
\nEmbassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Avelino and Nuno, who lived in the house in Demak, sought
\npolitical asylum with four others six days later at the Austrian
\nEmbassy in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Avelino was accompanied by his wife Sabina, of Kalimantan, and
\nhis two small children, identified as Adel Sea Maria Coelho da
\nSilva and Didina Maria Coelho da Silva. Another youth following
\nthem to the embassy was identified as Costodio de Yesus Belo.<\/p>\n
They remain in the embassy despite demands by the Indonesian
\ngovernment that Austria hand over the couple so they can face
\nterrorism charges.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
\nIndonesia's 27th province in 1976, but the United Nations still
\nregards Lisbon as the administrative authority of the province.<\/p>\n
Xanana's questioning coincided with President Soeharto's
\ndeparture yesterday on an overseas trip which incorporates South
\nAfrica where he is scheduled to hold talks with President Nelson
\nMandela.<\/p>\n
Mandela made a state visit to Indonesia in July and had an
\nunprecedented meeting with Xanana after gaining President
\nSoeharto's permission.<\/p>\n
Later, Mandela wrote to Soeharto asking that Xanana be
\nreleased as part of an attempt to find a peaceful solution to
\nEast Timor's problems.<\/p>\n
Indonesia regards Xanana as a criminal and turned down the
\nrequest. (10)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-question-xanana-over-bomb-making-1447893297",
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