Australia's shift on East Timor

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