Calm returns to Dili after Xmas violence

DILI, East Timor (JP): Calm has returned here after the Christmas Eve violence that left one off-duty soldier dead and 12 people injured.

Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo paid his last respects yesterday and visited the home of First Corporal Alfredo Siga, 47, who was killed Tuesday in a skirmish as thousands of residents jammed the streets to welcome Belo home from Europe where he received this year's Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.

Belo said a brief prayer at Siga's home. Siga was given a military burial at the Seroja Heroes Cemetery.

Siga is survived by his wife Antonio Soares, seven children, and two grandchildren from his eldest daughter, 20-year old Maria de Fatima.

Among those who offered condolences to Siga's family was assistant to the Udayana regional military commander (in charge of Bali, West and East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor), Brig. Gen. Syahrir MS.

Chief of Udayana Military Command Maj. Gen. Abdul Rivai and East Timor military commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon also paid their last respects.

Simbolon said Siga was off duty for the Christmas holidays when he was attacked and killed in front of the Dili Cathedral where Belo was conducting a simple mass.

Simbolon said certain quarters, in an attempt to disrupt Belo's arrival, had spread rumors that local security personnel had arrested a member of an East Timorese security disturbance group and killed him during a mass at the Dili Cathedral.

Some residents were seen yesterday continuing with the festive mood of Christmas, as police were continuing with their investigation into the violence. East Timor police chief Atok Rismanto was quoted by AFP as saying that two people had been arrested.

"The two were caught near the bishop in front of the cathedral," Rismanto said, without identifying the suspects. "They had knives with them," he added.

He said police were seeking others allegedly involved in the eight outbreaks of violence which occurred Tuesday.

A source in East Timor said four people had been detained so far.

"We are searching for the suspects but, because there are several cases, we are proceeding by priorities," Rismanto said, without elaborating.

Simbolon blamed foreign journalists, who came to Dili pretending to be tourists, for the incidents, according to Antara.

Simbolon said the presence of the foreigners, some of whom took pictures of the anti-Indonesian banners displayed by some East Timorese youths at the airport and near the cathedral on Tuesday, was used by the protesters as a reason to demonstrate.

He said Indonesian journalists were prevented by the East Timorese youths from taking pictures of the banners.

One undercover army second lieutenant Abidin Tobba, who took a picture of a banner inscribed with "Viva Xanana" at the airport shortly before Belo landed, was beaten seriously by the crowd, Simbolon said.

Xanana Gusmao was head of the armed wing of the East Timorese separatist movement until his arrest in 1992. He is currently serving a 20-year jail term in a Jakarta prison.

"The presence of foreigners is always used to make provocation," Simbolon said. (33/01)