Australia's shift on East Timor

Australia's decision to push for eventual independence for East Timor will give a boost to a people who continue to suffer, in spite of all that has been done to try to bring peace to the province.

After the fall of Soeharto, and the apparent willingness of President B.J. Habibie to reach some kind of an accommodation with the East Timorese, it would have been unthinkable for Canberra to ignore the East Timorese longing for independence much longer.

But the man who holds the key to the problem, rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, is still in jail. And although Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas has said that he might be freed if an internationally acceptable settlement can be reached, Gusmao is mainly interested in a referendum so that the people can decide the future for themselves.

East Timor has passed out of the limelight since midsummer, as attention focused on Indonesia's other troubled province of Aceh, but the familiar reports of civilian killings and torture by the military continue to leak out.

Jakarta denied reports of a massacre at a guerrilla camp in the town of Alas in November, but the grim stories were confirmed when video footage smuggled out of the camp was broadcast last week.

Tension increased after the Army decided to arm civilians who favor integration, so that they can fight the armed proindependence rebel forces. It was fighting between opposing factions after Portugal's withdrawal that gave Indonesia the excuse to invade. And it appears now that in arming civilians the Army is resorting to tactics of divide and rule.

-- The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong