Disarmament crucial for the warring camps

JAKARTA (JP): As students danced in the streets in Dili following the signing of an agreement enabling them to determine their own future, with both proindependence and prointegration leaders saying they welcomed the ballot, the crucial issue of disarmament remains unresolved.

Disarmament of conflicting parties is a prerequisite mentioned in the agreement on the direct ballot planned for Aug. 8.

On Thursday, prointegration leaders insisted that they could not disarm members while they were unsure of the commitment of the proindependence side.

A proindependence leader said disarmament at this point was not possible as long as the military was around.

Leaders of the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice said disarming prointegration militias, which claim 50,000 members, was a simple matter of "two hours" at the most, saying they had adequate communication facilities.

Prointegration spokesman Basilio Dias Araujo told a media conference that his militia had symbolically shown goodwill on April 21, following the signing of the peace pact, by handing in a number of homemade weapons.

David Ximenes, coordinator of the proindependence National Council for East Timor Resistance (CNRT), told The Jakarta Post: "We cannot disarm our members now. We want the military out of East Timor first because they are the murderers. The militias are only the shadow of the military... We have to meet the UN people first before making commitments, and see the details of the agreement.

"I am not really safe... soldiers are walking around in plain clothes," he said from an undisclosed location.

The military has denied charges of links with militias.

David and some other proindependence leaders are in hiding following an attack on their homes on April 17 in Dili, killing 13 people. David said the police could not be trusted either.

The agreement requires the police and military to be neutral. Jailed CNRT president Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao called for a UN peacekeeping force because he said the Indonesian Military could not be considered a neutral force in the province.

Satisfied

Both Xanana and the prointegration leaders welcomed the agreement.

In a statement sent from his special jail house in Central Jakarta, Xanana said he was satisfied with the UN agreement. Its success, he said, "will depend on the Indonesian government's compliance with the terms of the agreement relating to its responsibility to create a climate of peace and tranquility for the population." The comment was sent hours after Indonesia and Portugal signed the agreement.

However, Xanana said, "There is no doubt... that numerous obstacles will continue to be placed in the path of the preparation of a fair, democratic and transparent consultation."

He added that the agreement was "no cause for euphoria, nor a guarantee of a resolution" of the problem.

"We must not view it with excessive pessimism nor loose faith of the urgent need for a frank and serious dialogue capable of giving rise to new spirits and hopes."

In front of Dili's University of East Timor, students rallying for the third consecutive day danced and snapped up newspapers announcing the New York agreement. However, some expressed pessimism that the years of bloodshed would end, AFP reported.

The agency reported that many East Timorese first heard news of the agreement from New York by radio.

Xanana, serving 20 years for armed rebellion, said the agreement recognized the 23-year struggle by East Timorese since the Indonesian military entered the territory in 1975.

"The immeasurable sacrifices," he said, had "not been in vain."

He also thanked UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, special envoy Jamsheed Marker and the governments of Indonesia and Portugal.

Prointegration leaders here said they no longer rejected the ballot, saying they were "powerless" to stop it.

"We welcome the ballot," Basilio said. However they raised fears of "prolonged conflict" because it would only "leave a group who wins and one who loses", according to Jose Tavares, a founder of the Dili-based Forum for Democracy, Unity and Justice.

The organization leaders said they hope the UN civilian police would cooperate with local police to ensure protection of all East Timorese to enable voting to be free from fear.

A few weeks ago, prointegration leaders in Dili warned foreign envoys that the UN police should not come and that they would "fight" any party trying to impose their will on them.

The prointegrationists had wanted a "traditional dialog" to avoid conflict.

But prointegrationists said international pressure had become too strong, and the agreement was made for "face saving" both on the part of the former colonial ruler Portugal, and Indonesia.

Nevertheless, leaders of the prointegration organization said they would accept whatever the result of the ballot was. They said only 10 percent of East Timorese were politically aware and hoped the rest would not be "manipulated" by either side.

The organization leaders said they have been trying to inform East Timorese on the coming ballot and the need to reduce violence. They said they intended to talk to proindependence groups to ensure the same.

In Dili, Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri said he was happy that clashes expected ahead of the signed agreement did not materialize. "We hope the situation will get even better by the time of the ballot," he said.

On Wednesday, UN members of an advance team coordinated by Beng Yong Chew had met, among others, Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares. They asked the support of the local administration for the planned ballot.

Religious leaders Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio Dos Nascimento said they were now ready to conduct the second round of reconciliation talks.

The talks will take place at the end of May, a continuation of the first talks in September. The second round was postponed following the early April killings in Liquica regency which left at least 25 dead.

"All people here, particularly their leaders, must respond wisely to the historic moment so that the ballot can be conducted safely and can result in a decision which will favor all East Timorese," Belo said. (33/byg/anr)