E. Timor fighter Duarte dies at 69
E. Timor fighter Duarte dies at 69
INDONESIA: Jose Manuel Duarte, an East Timorese who fought for
integration with Indonesia, died at the age of 69 at Harum
Hospital in East Jakarta on Friday morning.
Born in Dili on March 14, 1934, Duarte is survived by a wife
and five children, Antara news agency reported on Saturday.
The Indonesian government awarded Duarte the Veteran Republik
Indonesia medal in 1995 and the Satya Lencana Pergerakan
Kemerdekaan medal in 1996.
Duarte joined the first group of fighters who took up the
struggle against the Portuguese colonial administration in East
Timor in 1959. He later became an active supporter of integration
with Indonesia.
After East Timor gained its independence through a 1999 UN-
sponsored ballot, Duarte chose to keep his Indonesian
nationality.
Duarte will be buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery on
Sunday, the first East Timorese integration fighter to be buried
there. -- JP
;JP:
ANPAi..r..
Highlights-US-aid-ETimor
U.S. denies it is cutting aid to E Timor
JP/2/HIGH
U.S. denies it is cutting aid to E Timor
UNITED STATES: The United States on Friday denied a report that
it was thinking of cutting aid to East Timor by 40 percent to
divert the funds to the operation to rebuild Iraq.
"Our economic support to East Timor is not decreasing," said
the State Department in a written answer to a question taken at
spokesman Richard Boucher's daily press briefing.
"We provided US$25 million in foreign assistance to East Timor
in 2002 and are providing $25 million in 2003.
"This is the largest U.S. aid program in East Asia on a per
capita basis."
The report, out of Tokyo, quoted East Timor's Foreign Minister
Jose Ramos Horta as saying that U.S. officials were considering
cutting aid to East Timor by 40 percent. --AFP
;JP:
ANPAi..r..
Highlights-KL-Bible-Iban
KL lifts ban on Iban-language Bible
JP/2/HIGH
KL lifts ban on Iban-language Bible
MALAYSIA: The government of mainly-Muslim Malaysia has agreed to
lift a ban on an edition of the Bible published in the language
of the indigenous Iban tribe, acting Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi said.
"I have decided that the ban be lifted," Abdullah was quoted
as saying by the official Bernama news agency late Friday.
The decision to review the ban comes after a protest and an
appeal by Malaysia's Council of Churches.
Some 60 percent of Malaysia's 23 million people are Muslims,
while under 10 percent are Christians. There are also large
Buddhist and Hindu minorities and the constitution allows
religious freedom.
The complete text with the Old and New Testaments in the Iban
language has been widely used by churches in Sarawak on Borneo
island since its first edition in 1988. It was among 35 books
recently banned by the ministry. --AFP