Timorese refugees coming to grips with 'real situation'<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Chief of the Udayana Military Command
\nMaj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri said pro-integration East Timorese could
\nbe divided into three groups in their efforts to pursue their
\nstruggle -- realists, conservatives and opportunists.<\/p>\n
According to Kiki, whose command is responsible for security
\nin East Nusa Tenggara, more and more "refugees" are now more
\nconscious of being law abiding and can differentiate between
\n"doing something for the sake of the struggle and doing something
\nwhich is against the law".<\/p>\n
He said the realists are those who are willing to accept the
\nsituation and work for their cause from within the political
\nmeans available in East Timor, including setting up political
\nparties in the former province which lean towards Indonesia.<\/p>\n
The conservatives still demand that the United Nations
\nacknowledge that violations occurred during last year's ballot
\nand demand that they be given 21 percent of the territory in East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
"But some from this group have shifted to become realists,"
\nKiki remarked.<\/p>\n
The final group, the opportunists, only try to exploit the
\nsituation, including the presence of some 130,000 East Timorese
\nrefugees sheltered across East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
"This (the exploitation) is occurring in Kupang and Atambua
\nwhere you see such things as extortion," Kiki remarked.<\/p>\n
Speaking to journalists here on Thursday, Kiki also said the
\nlatest situation in various refugee camps in West Timor was quiet
\nfollowing the arrest of notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres
\nin Jakarta on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"This morning (Thursday) at about 7 a.m. I checked, and just
\nnow one of my staff did the same and reports were that everything
\nwas quiet in Atambua and Kupang," Kiki said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that there had been a minor disturbance when news
\ninitially spread about Eurico's arrest, however, the situation
\nwas soon calm.<\/p>\n
Eurico was arrested by police after he was named as a suspect
\nin last year's violence in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Buru<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, former East Timor governor Jose
\nAbilio Soares has opposed President Abdurrahman Wahid's
\nsuggestion to send East Timor refugees to the island of Buru,
\nsaying that the refugees deserve the right to choose their own
\nplace to live in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"We are now in West Timor (East Nusa Tenggara), so just let us
\nlive there and help us build our life there. As Timorese, we have
\nthe right to live in Timor. No one can move us from there. Not
\neven God," he told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The President said on Wednesday in Ottawa, Canada, during his
\noverseas trip that the government would relocate the 130,000 East
\nTimorese refugees to Buru island (Maluku) in order that they
\ncould not have contact with East Timorese in Dili.<\/p>\n
Hard-liners of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) were
\nincarcerated on Buru island in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Abilio briefed reporters after meeting with Yogyakarta
\nGovernor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X at the gubernatorial office
\ncomplex in Kepatihan.<\/p>\n
Abilio said he visited the sultan to express gratitude for the
\n30 sets of knockdown bamboo houses for the East Timor refugees in
\nAtambua early this year. "I also asked him to take care of East
\nTimorese living in Yogyakarta."<\/p>\n
Abilio blamed the international community, in this case the
\nUnited Nations, for events in East Timor, saying that all the
\ndisasters in the former 27th province of Indonesia were the
\nresult of an international conspiracy to destroy Indonesia. "The
\ndirect victim of the conspiracy is us, the Timorese people," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
That is why, Abilio said, that the disarmament of pro-Jakarta
\nmilitia was the responsibility of the United Nations, not the
\ngovernment of Indonesia. "If we talk about militia disarmament,
\nwe must also talk about the Fretilin's men. Therefore, it is the
\nUN that is to be held responsible," he said.<\/p>\n
He also blamed the UN for the riots that occurred after the
\nAugust 1999 ballot offered by then president Habibie. "Former
\npresident Habibie alone cannot be held responsible for the
\nmayhem.<\/p>\n
"The vote was held under international pressure. They (the UN)
\nengineered the balloting in such a way that the result that came
\nout was different from what was expected. Habibie was forced to
\naccept what the rest of the world wanted. He had no choice
\nbecause of our economic dependence on the international
\ncommunity," he said.<\/p>\n
Abilio's statements were in response to militia leader Eurico
\nGuterres' statement that Habibie should take responsibility for
\nwhat happened in East Timor after the August 1999 ballot. "The
\nonly party responsible for the destruction in East Timor is the
\nUN," he added. (swa\/zen)<\/p>",
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