Bugis community apologizes for Timorese killing

DILI, East Timor (JP): The Bugis community here has apologized to the East Timorese people for the recent murder of a local trader by one of its members, an incident that triggered much political tension during the APEC gathering.

Members of this South Sulawesi community have sent a letter to key local government and military officials as well as bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo in which they condemn the Nov. 12 killing that took place in a Dili market.

They apologized to the government, the military, the East Timorese people and the family of the victim, Mario Vicente. In it they also denounced the murderer, Mokhamad Sakir.

They urged the authority to bring Sakir to court and asked them to provide security to all of the South Sulawesi immigrants throughout East Timor.

The murder of Mario Vicente triggered ethnic rioting that developed into days of anti-government demonstrations in this capital of the former Portuguese colony.

Local authorities said the Dili market incident was sparked by a mere misunderstanding between Sakir and Mario, who were quarreling over the placement of their stalls.

Provincial police chief Andreas Sugianto welcomed the South Sulawesi community's move, saying that the incident should become an "invaluable lesson" for everyone in the youngest province of Indonesia.

He said all immigrants should try to adjust themselves to the local customs. "When in Rome do as the Romans," he said, adding that the police were committed to providing security to all citizens.

Arrests

Andreas yesterday clarified an earlier report from a police source who said that the authorities arrested 50 demonstrators on Tuesday night.

He was referring to an anti-government demonstration staged by dozens of youths in Komoro, about four kilometers from Dili.

"The police on patrol encountered and dispersed the crowd of youths," he said. But he acknowledged having arrested eight people in the village of Bairo for "another case" he declined to specify.

The latest arrests brought the number of people detained by the police since the Dili market incident to 30. Andreas said the detainees would be prosecuted on charges of inciting unrest.

Meanwhile, Bishop Belo said government officials should go back to the drawing board and see what they could learn from the recent incidents in East Timor and in Jakarta, where 29 East Timorese raided the U.S. embassy compound seeking asylum from Portugal.

"The government should think of how to prevent similar incidents from happening again in the future and what to do to bring peace to East Timor," he said.

He deplored the recent deportation of five foreign journalists from East Timor, saying that such a move would "lessen Indonesia's credibility in the eyes of international media."

"The action would make foreign journalists write about East Timor from afar and it's not good for the (Indonesian) government," he said.

Indonesian government and military officials said they deported foreign journalists from East Timor because the newsmen did not have the proper permits from authorities.

They also alleged that some foreign journalists fanned anti- government demonstrations. (yac/pan)