Araujo warns of bloodshed in East Timor
Araujo warns of bloodshed in East Timor
Dili, East Timor (JP): An East Timorese leader predicted there
would be a bloodbath here regardless of the outcome of the Aug.
30 self-determination vote.
"The postballot period will be very crucial because neither of
the conflicting factions will accept defeat in the ballot. A
greater war than the one in 1975 and mass killings are expected
to happen again in the troubled territory," Timorese Nationalist
Party chairman Abilio Araujo told The Jakarta Post on board of a
Merpati flight from Dili to Jakarta on Tuesday.
Araujo, who lived in Lisbon, Portugal, visited Dili to
consolidate members of his party and to install party
functionaries in regencies in East Timor.
He said the conflicting factions and the East Timorese in
general would never accept the ballot result because they have
never been part of the negotiation and proposed solution.
"The May 5 tripartite agreement was reached by Indonesia,
Portugal and UN, (while) the East Timorese people were never
invited to participate in the making of it," he said.
Araujo accused the UN of making a wrong decision over the
ballot, saying many personnel of the UN Mission in East Timor
(UNAMET) do not care about the sociopolitical and cultural
condition in East Timor.
He also criticized the East Timor Catholic Church for its
inconsistency and failure to be neutral in facing the conflicting
factions.
"According to me, the Catholic Church is not consistent, but
the Church leadership has frequently favored the proindependence
faction," he said.
He said further that it was too late for the Catholic Church
leadership to issue statements calling for the two conflicting
factions to reconcile after the ballot, no matter what the
outcome would be.
"If the church is committed to seeing peace and progress in
East Timor, it should have used its strong influence and
authority to bring the conflicting factions to the negotiation
table and find peaceful solutions many years ago," he said.
He said the East Timorese had been invited to propose
alternative options -- rather than only autonomy within Indonesia
or independence -- for the future of the territory, no clashes
would have happened. (rms)