Clash mars East Timor registration

DILI, East Timor (JP): A bloody incident in Covalima regency marred the opening of the 20-day voter registration for the self- determination ballot in troubled East Timor. A prointegration activist was killed when his group fought with proindependence supporters hours before registration started on Friday morning.

East Timor Police chief Col. Timbul Silaen said prointegrationist Fernando Maia, 36, was killed on Thursday night after he and nine friends clashed with some 60 proindependence youths in Salesa village, about 100 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Dili.

The colonel said the incident erupted when the proindependence villagers assaulted 10 youths who were on their way from their village of Mape to Salesa to bring food for relatives. Two of Fernando's friends and four villagers were badly injured.

He added the police were still questioning five suspects for allegedly inciting the violence.

"We will investigate the incident and step up our patrolling there," Silaen said.

The United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) spokesman, David Wimhurst, said the fighting erupted when members of pro- Indonesia militia group Mahidi (Live or Die for Integration) attacked the Salesai villagers.

"This has caused tension in the area ... and a suspension of registration in four registration centers (in the area)," he said.

President B.J. Habibie reiterated his pledge to respect the results of the direct ballot.

The ambassador at large for East Timor, Francisco Lopez da Cruz, said, however, the President would only visit the province if the majority of East Timorese voted to remain part of Indonesia.

"If that is not the case, the President will deliver a state address to declare that Indonesia receives the results of the direct ballot and East Timor will separate from Indonesia," da Cruz said after meeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace.

Habibie's spokeswoman Dewi Fortuna Anwar has said the President wanted to visit the province for the first time before the self-determination ballot. However, he decided to send 13 ministers there last week in his place because he feared any visit of his at the time would be misunderstood as a campaigning rally.

Separately, visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Stanley Roth said in Dili the registration process had only just begun and concerns about security remained, but "it got off to a good start".

UNAMET spokesman David Wimhurst described the first day of the registration process as encouraging despite the Salesa incident.

"The first day or two will be slow and then it will pick up speed," he said.

The UN also opened registration centers in Jakarta, Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, Surabaya in East Java, Denpasar in Bali and Yogyakarta as well as in Australia, Mozambique, Macao, the United States, Switzerland and Portugal.

From Dili, Antara reported hundreds of eligible voters in Bobonaro regency patiently queued to register since early morning. Accompanied by Roth and U.S. Ambassador Stapleton Roy, UNAMET chief Ian Martin visited Bobonaro, Suai and Maliana.

In Baucau, 130 kilometers east of Dili, only a handful of people came to the registration centers. A UNAMET official said many people were still busy preparing documents required for registration.

East Timor's Indonesian Ulemas Council chairman, Abdullah M. Sragan, expressed confidence that 30,000 Muslims living in the province would opt for integration.

"Most of the Muslims in East Timor would opt for autonomy, because since 1975 they have opted for integration," the chairman said.

Salim Alkatiri, a respected Muslim leader and chairman of An- Nur Mosque in Kampung Alor subdistrict in Dili, urged East Timorese to use their right to vote in next month's ballot.

"All East Timorese must exercise their right to vote," he said after saying his Friday prayer at the grand mosque.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, only one voter registered. Jacobus, a military member, came to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) office in the morning.

Meanwhile in Jakarta, only eight people visited the registration center at the UN Information Center (UNIC), including Jose Godianho, a student of Satya Wacana University in Salatiga, Central Java. Up to 400 East Timorese people reside in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported from New York the United Nations convened on a new round of talks on Thursday to map out plans for the future of East Timor after the August ballot.

The meetings with Indonesian and Portuguese officials followed an announcement from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that allowed the registration of voters to begin on Friday.

Annan told the UN Security Council in a letter late Wednesday that he would decide halfway through the 20-day registration period if violence in East Timor had subsided enough for the vote on independence or wide-ranging autonomy within Indonesia to go ahead on Aug. 21 or Aug. 22.

Senior foreign ministry officials from Indonesia and former colonial power Portugal told reporters Annan's decision was a good sign.

"As soon as registration starts, that's a good sign," said Indonesian foreign ministry senior official Nugroho Wisnumurti as he began talks with UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker.

Meanwhile, the chief of staff of armed Prointegration Fighters (MBPPIB), Hermanio da Silva da Costa, demanded the government expel UNAMET personnel who had sexual relationships with local women.

"We demand police to investigate those who are involved in the sex scandal, and then expel them from Indonesia," Herminio said in a statement.(33/30/27/prb)