Calls for restraint over Belo's remarks continue

Calls for restraint over Belo's remarks continue

JAKARTA (JP): Calls for restraint over East Timor Bishop
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo's controversial remarks in a German
magazine continued yesterday.

Chairman of the 30-million strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslem
Organization Abdurrahman Wahid called on the nation not to take
hasty measures against the bishop.

"It is not ethical to comment on such an unclear issue. I
wonder whether those who have commented on the issue really heard
the recorded interview," said Abdurrahman, better-known as Gus
Dur.

There was the possibility that what Belo said was different to
what appeared in the magazine, he said.

He called for people to maintain national unity by not
exaggerating the issue.

The furor was sparked by Belo's remarks in an Oct. 14 edition
of Der Spiegel, which quotes him as saying that Indonesian troops
treated East Timorese people like "scabby dogs and slaves."

Belo, who last month shared the Nobel Peace Prize with exiled
pro-independence activist Jose Ramos Horta, has not denied making
the statement, but has asked for time to review a tape recording
of the interview.

Appeals for restraint also came from the Communication Forum
for Youths of Eastern Indonesia, which asked all parties not to
politicize Belo's statement.

The Indonesian Nationalist Student Movement (GMNI), called on
the nation to avoid reactionary attitudes.

"Mass gatherings held in response to any affair are no more
appropriate," said a GMNI statement.

Meanwhile, a group of students of the East Timor University
expressed their support for Belo and criticized several youth
organizations for being narrow-minded in understanding the
bishop's statement which was related to his struggle in East
Timor.

"Belo's struggle for human rights protection in East Timor was
objective," they said.

The students called on the government to implement policies in
favor of the majority of East Timorese not just a few people.

The group said Belo's alleged statement was an indication of
the failure of the Indonesian government's development policy for
the East Timor province.

"The government should reevaluate its policy on East Timor
development," they said.

The AFP news agency reported that about 3,000 East Timorese
youths staged a peaceful rally in support of Belo in front of the
governor's building in the capital city of Dili, in the third day
of demonstrations there.

"The demonstrators are demanding that their support for Belo
and their protest against criticism of the bishop be given
straight to President Soeharto," a local resident told the news
agency.

An East Timor University staff member said yesterday that the
campus was quiet. The university had been the site of an earlier
sit-in by hundreds of students in support of Belo.

Demonstrations, some supporting and others denouncing Belo,
have hit Jakarta, Dili and other cities in the past few days.
(imn/14)