CNRT-flag raising draws thousands of Dili residents
DILI, East Timor (JP): Thousands of East Timorese flowed onto the streets here Sunday to watch the opening of a new headquarters for the pro-independence force and the first public raising of the free East Timor flag.
In a ceremony that mixed military solemnity with singing and dancing, the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) raised its blue, green and white flag outside a seafront bungalow that will serve as its new base.
"I thank you all for keeping a peaceful campaign. It is up to you to maintain a secure, peaceful condition," Jeff Fischer, representative of the UN Mission for East Timor (UNAMET), said in a brief opening statement on Sunday.
A day earlier, the pro-integration force held their campaign in the lead up to the Aug. 30 self-determination vote on whether the people of the former Portuguese colony will accept an Indonesian offer of autonomy under the Indonesian flag or opt for an independent state.
Manuel Carrascalao, a CNRT official, said the enthusiastic greeting of the pro-independence supporters reflected "what the people want" from the landmark referendum.
The opening of the CNRT office was the first public event by independence supporters since the two-week campaign opened on Saturday.
Saturday's pro-autonomy campaign began with prointegration leaders' warning that the territory could turn into a war zone if people voted for independence.
However, at the Saturday's gathering UN officials hailed the good behavior of the anti-independence crowd, describing it as a promising start to the campaign. Many had feared it could be marred by violence between the rival factions.
In a recorded speech broadcast at Sunday's event, jailed independence leader Jose Alexander "Xanana" Gusmao urged supporters to show respect for other East Timorese who want autonomy within Indonesia.
"For the past 24 years our enemy have not been the East Timorese people who want integration with Indonesia. Our main enemy has been the Indonesian military," said Xanana, who is still under house arrest in Central Jakarta.
Xanana, speaking in the local Tetun language, said Indonesia's armed forces and particularly their top commanders, bore responsibility for atrocities committed in the province.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that seven men accused of taking part in a militia attack on a humanitarian aid convoy in East Timor have been sentenced to jail for four months.
"The accused were ordered to serve their sentences with no time off," David Wimhurst, spokesman of UNAMET, was quoted by the news agency as saying.
He did not elaborate on when the sentences were handed down.
Two UNAMET military liaison officers and other UN staff were accompanying an aid convoy back to Dili on July 4 when it was attacked in the town of Liquica by militiamen with guns and machetes. One driver for an East Timorese aid organization was seriously wounded. (33/edt)