Clashes continue in East Timor

Clashes continue in East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): One person died and several were injured on
Sunday in a clash between groups for and against East Timorese
independence in Hera, east of the capital of Dili, in a
continuation of violence that killed at least 20 on Saturday.

Harsh international reaction followed Saturday's killings,
including remarks from Australian Prime Minister John Howard to
the effect that the Indonesian government was responsible for the
increasing violence.

A prompt response came from President B.J. Habibie's
spokeswoman, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, who said Jakarta, as the ruling
authority, accepted responsibility for any deaths.

Howard was quoted by Reuters as saying: "I am very concerned
at the way in which the situation has deteriorated and the
Indonesian government cannot escape responsibility for at least
some of that, if not all of it."

Howard said he would contact Indonesian President B.J. Habibie
to express Australia's "deep concern" at the Dili killings and
the "growing evidence" that Indonesian troops are not acting to
prevent the killings by pro-Jakarta militiamen.

"You would have to wonder whether these pro-integration
militiamen are not getting some kind of permissive response from
the Indonesian army," Howard said in a television interview.

At least 20 people, including the nephew of former governor
Mario Vegas Carrascalao and son of pro-independence fighter
Manuel Carrascalao, were confirmed dead when armed pro-Indonesian
militiamen rampaged unchecked through Dili on Saturday.

Reuters quoted Dewi as saying: "It's our responsibility
because we are the only ones here. We condemn the act of
violence... and we hope that it won't disturb the agenda for
next week's meeting of foreign ministers.

"What we want is a peaceful solution. If East Timorese stay
with Indonesia, we want that to be peaceful, and if they separate
we want to have peaceful relations with East Timor."

The foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal, Ali Alatas
and Jaime Gama, are scheduled to meet in New York from Thursday
for UN-sponsored talks on a ballot to allow the former Portuguese
colony to choose between independence and enhanced autonomy
within Indonesia.

In New York on Saturday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
condemned the new upsurge of violence and said he regretted
Indonesia's inability to control militias loyal to Jakarta.

Annan said he "strongly deplores these new acts of violence
and regrets this apparent inability of the Indonesian authorities
to control the violence by militias to protect the civilian
population". He called "for an immediate end to this escalation
of violence by all sides".

Meanwhile, tension continued to shroud Dili and surrounding
areas as rumors circulated among residents that further violence
would take place on Monday.

Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo on Sunday prayed over
the bodies of 12 victims of Saturday's violence and asked the
military to guarantee the safety of civilians, Antara said.

Meanwhile, a visiting team from the National Commission on
Human Rights spent Sunday lobbying to enable relatives to claim
bodies from the military hospital for proper burial.

Member Koesparmono Irsan told The Jakarta Post on Sunday the
commission had met Manuel Carrascalao, who said he was still
unable to retrieve the body of his son, Mario, 18. Police later
said permission would be granted to relatives wishing to take the
bodies.

Manuel expressed worry that his son, and 11 others who died at
his home in an attack by a mob of armed prointegrationists, would
be given a mass burial.

"All (victims) have families and we appeal to the commission
to help us (retrieve them) so they are not given a mass burial,"
Manuel said as quoted by Koesparmono.

Rights body members met Manuel at the home of Belo, to seek
his support for the newly formed East Timor Independent National
Commission on Human Rights. Manuel was among several figures
recommended to the commission by jailed independence fighter
Alexandre Xanana Gusmao.

The East Timor rights body is to comprise some 50 people,
representing all parties, in a bid to secure peace in the
province.

Also on Sunday, the commission visited the representative of
the International Commission of the Red Cross, Truls
Toggenburger, who said his organization had not been given access
to Liquica regency, the site where scores were killed in early
April.

Commission deputy Djoko Soegijanto said in the meeting that
Belo raised "reasonable" demands that law and order be upheld in
the province. Belo had cited arbitrary shooting, burning and
looting by armed civilians while the Armed Forces did not take
adequate action.

Meanwhile, East Timor Police are sheltering 64 people,
including 48 from Maubara in Liquica regency, who were part of
124 people sheltered at Manuel's home in Dili during the attack.
They were some of the refugees fleeing their homes in the past
two months citing intimidation by prointegration groups. (33/anr)