Dili life slowly returns to normal after rioting

DILI, East Timor (JP): Life in the East Timor capital slowly returned to normal yesterday with people reporting for work and shops opening after three days of tension and rioting.

East Timor Police Chief Col. Andreas Sugianto yesterday promised that a South Sulawesi man who killed an East Timorese on Saturday night at the Becora market will be brought to trial next week.

The killing sparked rioting on Saturday which immediately spread to the rest of Dili. The demonstration shifted to an issue of anti-integration with Indonesia.

In Jakarta, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said East Timor authorities have detained 27 people who took part in the inter-ethnic brawling.

"The fighting was caused by narrow ethnic egotism," Gen. Feisal was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying yesterday.

Those detained will be dealt with in accordance with the law, he said, adding that the rioting was fanned by people who opposed East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

The incident has soured ethnic relations in the city, pitting East Timorese on one hand and non-East Timorese on the other. The Bugis people from South Sulawesi who came as traders are particularly being singled out.

On Tuesday, a group of East Timorese demanded the authorities send away all Bugis migrants.

Col. Andreas yesterday again appealed to the Dili people for calm and not to take the law into their own hands.

He said the police have apprehended the murderer, identified as Muhamad Sakir, and he will be tried in accordance with the law. The trial will begin next week, he added.

"Let the law enforcers do their job. They will be fair," he gave his assurances.

Offices and schools were reopened yesterday but most people still appeared edgy.

There was also a heavy presence of security officers on the city's major roads.

As the city resumed some sense of normalcy, many shopkeepers, restaurant owners and public transport operators were counting their losses from the three-days of frenzy.

Siti, who owns a restaurant in Dili, said she lost Rp 150,000 in earnings while Ratna said her losses amounted to Rp 250,000.

Yosef, a taxi driver who hails from nearby Flores island, said he now faces a big cut in his salary this month because he was idle for three days. Andy, a transit van driver, also bemoaned the losses in earnings caused by the riots.

Col. Andreas said total material and financial losses are not yet known but it is bound to be huge. (yac/emb)