ABRI watching new resistance group

DILI, East Timor: East Timor Military chief Col. Tono Suratman said the authorities would not ban the Conselho National de Resistancia Timorese (CNRT), a new self-proclaimed resistance group, if its motive was to unite the people in the province.

"But we will not allow its activities if they lead to disintegration," Suratman told reporters on Thursday.

CNRT was proclaimed by Father Domingos Sousa on Sept. 9 with the stated objective of bringing about a reconciliation among the East Timorese people.

Suratman said the military would not tolerate any organization that opposes the legitimate government, and warned CNRT to grasp this point as it embarked on its reconciliation campaign.

The military chief also denied earlier reports suggesting that Gada Paksi, a paramilitary group, had been dissolved.

Gada Paksi was founded by an organization which has been putting up school dropouts, orphans and other underprivileged people and providing them with vocational training and jobs, he said.

The group now boasts more than 800 members throughout East Timor. (33)