Ceremony heralds 'end' of E. Timor's militias
JAKARTA (JP): The turbulent chapter of East Timor prointegration militias may have come to a close on Monday when the group's main catalyst, the East Timor Fighters Force (PPTT), officially disbanded in a ceremony in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara.
The ceremony at Haliwen field in the small border town also signifies, on a formal level at least, the dissolution of notorious armed wings such as Halilintar, Sakunar and Besi Merah Putih.
Leading the ceremony was PPTT commander Joao da Silva Tavares.
Prointegration militias were often identified as being responsible for the sweeping destruction that hit East Timor following the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot.
In a written statement, Tavares said the existence of the militias was no longer relevant.
He further stressed that armed resistance was also futile and that all weapons should be handed over to the proper authorities.
Tavares said the dissolution was carried out to halt any negative perceptions that the Indonesian province was being used as a base for rebel activity and that PPTT should thus no longer be blamed for complications which might arise in East Timor.
"All members should now return and become members of the community," he said as quoted by Antara in Atambua.
Signs of reconciliation between prointegration and independence forces began to be evident when Tavares warmly embraced East Timor independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao at a border meeting on Sunday.
UNTAET
Meanwhile, in Jakarta, the head of the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) during a meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday invited the Indonesian leader to visit East Timor.
"We hope that the president can go there as soon as possible," Sergio Viera de Melo told journalists after the meeting.
Melo also expressed hope that a resumption of commercial flights between Jakarta and Dili could be established soon, and that trading activities between the province of East Nusa Tenggara and East Timor could also commence.
In a further sign of reconciliation, rival factions from East Timor were scheduled to meet in Tokyo on Tuesday, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.
About 20 representatives of both proindependence and prointegration factions would attend the two-day gathering, just ahead of an international aid conference for East Timor beginning in the Japanese capital later this week, the ministry official was quoted by Reuters as saying.
The two-day conference of international donors, co-chaired by the World Bank and United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), begins on Thursday to discuss East Timor's reconstruction needs.
The Australian National University and a Swedish university are hosting the preceding two-day meeting between representatives of East Timor's rival factions.(mds)