E. Timor expels two more foreign journalists
DILI, East Timor (JP): East Timor authorities yesterday deported two foreigners who they believed were involved in journalistic activity while visiting on an inappropriate visa.
Major. Laeden Simbolon, the spokesman for the East Timor military, identified the two as 42-year old Irene Velak, a Dutch citizen, and 49-year old Rose Marie L from Australia.
AFP however identified them as 35-year old Irene Slegt and 39- year old Jill Rose Marie Jolliffe. It was not immediately clear which media agency they were representing.
The two entered East Timor on Nov. 28 on a tourist visa. They were caught by the authorities in the Baucau regency two days later conducting journalistic work, Simbolon said.
He added that both visitors were actually journalists by profession and that their names had already been blacklisted by the government for their previous articles.
The East Timor military last month gave marching orders to four foreign journalists, one for inciting anti-government youths to protest while the others were deported for entering the territory without proper permits from Jakarta.
The presence of the hordes of foreign journalists in East Timor last month, most of whom went to the territory after covering the APEC conferences in Jakarta, has been cited as one of the primary reasons that some youths took to the streets in violent anti-government protest.
East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares has said that the people who oppose East Timor's integration into Indonesia represent a minority group of East Timorese.
Last Thursday, two special envoys of UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on Thursday met with Governor Abilio and other government and military officials in East Timor.
The two, Frances Vendrell and Thamrat Samuel, were sent to gather information ahead of the next round of meetings between the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal at the United Nations to try to resolve the sovereignty of East Timor.
The meeting, held under the auspices of the UN chief, is slated for Jan. 9 in Geneva.
Abilio said that the two UN envoys were asking questions about the presence of the military in East Timor and about a series of incidents in the former Portuguese territory.
The governor said that in his response he told the UN envoys that the military in East Timor is helping with the development of the territory because it can reach the remote areas which are beyond the reach of civilian agencies and private companies.
Before coming to East Timor, the two UN officials met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas in Jakarta. (yac/emb)