UN flag officially raised in East Timor<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): The United Nations Assistance Mission
\nin East Timor (UNAMET) officially raised the UN flag at its
\noffice here on Thursday in a ceremony attended by some 3,000 East
\nTimorese.<\/p>\n
The ceremony was also attended by Indonesian ambassador at
\nlarge on East Timor, Lopez da Cruz, East Timor Governor Jose
\nAbilio Soares, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and Portuguese envoy to
\nIndonesia Ana Gomes.<\/p>\n
Also on hand were Indonesian police and military officials as
\nwell as David Ximenes and Leandro Isaac, officials of the
\nproindependence National Resistance Council for East Timor
\n(CNRT).<\/p>\n
UNAMET was deployed in East Timor to help monitor preparations
\nof the ballot on Aug. 8 to determine whether the population
\naccepts Jakarta's autonomy offer.<\/p>\n
After the ceremony, however, hundreds of proindependence East
\nTimorese youths vandalized official cars used by Soares, Lopez da
\nCruz and Dili Mayor Mateus Maia.<\/p>\n
The three luxurious cars were badly damaged in the incident.<\/p>\n
Mateus Maia regretted the incident and blamed UNAMET for it.<\/p>\n
\"UNAMET should be responsible for the incident and the damages
\nbecause it failed to maintain security at its headquarters,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said UNAMET should not have allowed the proindependence
\nyouths to enter the headquarters so as to ensure its neutrality.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task
\nforce, Dino Patti Djalal, said he regretted the incident.<\/p>\n
\"The incident was against the spirit of the day and we really
\nregret it,\" Dino told The Jakarta Post by phone from Dili on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
He said he would send a letter of concern to UNAMET chief Ian
\nMartin.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred at 10:30 a.m. when the cars of guests
\nwere leaving the UNAMET compound after the opening ceremony, Dino
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people, he said, were crowding outside the gate,
\nforcing the cars to slow down and some of them started banging
\nthe cars.<\/p>\n
The crowd, who were mostly the proindependence group, Dino
\nsaid, smashed the rear windshield of cars belonging to East Timor
\ngovernor, Mateus Maia and Lopez da Cruz and damaged two others
\nbelonging to the police and military officers.<\/p>\n
Dino said members of the task force for the Implementation of
\nthe Popular Consultation in East Timor had met with
\nprointegration groups the night before the incident together with
\nlocal security officers.<\/p>\n
\"In the meeting we made an appeal, especially to the radical
\nones, not to show up at the UNAMET office the next day because we
\nwere concerned about the possible consequences if they met with
\nthe proindependence group,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Dino said he believed UNAMET should stand firm in dealing with
\nthe incident and that it should maintain its integrity and
\nneutrality.<\/p>\n
\"I hope this incident will not happen again because the next
\nfew months are crucial. I hope all parties would exercise self-
\nrestraint and work together to initiate peace,\" Dino said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, CNRT which is led by jailed Xanana Gusmao, will
\nsoon reopen its offices in East Timor after a two-month closure,
\nsays a CNRT official.<\/p>\n
\"CNRT will soon reopen its offices in all towns and villages
\nacross the province to resume its struggle for the province's
\nindependence,\" David Ximenes, CNRT coordinator in Dili, told
\nlocal and foreign journalists here on Thursday.<\/p>\n
CNRT has frozen its activities for two months following an
\nattack by prointegration groups in several regencies, including
\nDili, on April 17.<\/p>\n
Manuela Carrascalao, younger brother of former East Timor
\ngovernor Mario Carrascalao, lost his son in the incident when his
\nhouse was badly damaged.<\/p>\n
David said that the decision to resume activities was taken
\nafter gaining a safety assurance from UNAMET.<\/p>\n
\"No more violence and terrors are to occur following the UN's
\nofficial presence in the territory and the East Timorese people
\nare expected to be free in airing their opinions in the next
\nballot,\" said David, who blamed the violence on the local
\nmilitary.<\/p>\n
The police are slated on Saturday to officially take over
\nauthority from the military in overseeing the security.
\n(rms\/33\/hhr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/un-flag-officially-raised-in-east-timor-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}