East Timor anniversary passes without incident

East Timor anniversary passes without incident

JAKARTA (JP): After weeks of swirling rumors of impending
clashes between demonstrators and security forces, quiet pervaded
in Dili, East Timor, yesterday as residents chose to stay indoors
on the province's 22nd anniversary of integration into Indonesia.

The only formal ceremony marking the former Portuguese
colony's integration was held on the grounds of the governor's
office.

Tightly guarded, the ceremony was attended by about 500
people, mostly government employees.

Dili residents told The Jakarta Post by telephone that the
shunning of formal celebrations was a deliberate measure.

"We discussed it with pro-referendum, informal Timorese
leaders in Dili and had decided to urge people to stay home today
to avoid violence that could occur," said Manuel Viegas
Carrascalao, head of the Reconciliation and Unity Movement of the
East Timorese People.

Another resident, Jos Luis, told the Post that residents
conducted "a silent protest" by staying at home to show their
political stance.

"Only civil servants and Armed Forces members were around the
streets of Dili today... residents stayed home," said the
coordinator of the Law, Human Rights and Justice Foundation in
Dili.

Manuel and Jos said only a few residents heeded the
provincial government's call to raise the red-and-white
Indonesian flag, unlike on integration days in the past.

No violence was reported but security officers patrolled the
town in open trucks and on foot in groups of 10 to 15.

In the past few weeks, an estimated 7,000 migrants to the
province have fled amid fears of violence and threats they would
be driven out on integration day.

Jos dismissed reports of an exodus of tens of thousands of
non-Timorese to the border town of Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara,
about 300 kilometers southwest of Dili.

"We've sent a team there, but have found it was not true."

Jos believed the rumors were intentionally spread to create
the impression Timorese were hostile to migrants.

"The facts are not like that... native Timorese live in
harmony with migrants."

Dialog

In his address during the ceremony, Governor Abilio Jose
Osorio Soares stressed dialog as the solution to the province's
troubles.

"The only way to move toward that direction is to hold dialog
among us, among those who live here and those who live abroad, to
enable us to manage the province based on objectivity and
reality," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

Abilio said the special autonomy offered by President B.J.
Habibie for the province was a "fair and realistic" offer.

Separately in Jakarta, Minister of Information Muhammad
Yosfiah expressed personal concern over the exodus.

"Some of my relatives have also fled," he said after meeting
with Habibie yesterday.

His wife, Antonia Yacinta da Costa, is a native East Timorese.
The minister is from Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, a city whose
traders dominate the East Timor economy.

United Nations Special Envoy on East Timor Affairs Jamsheed
Marker, who arrived in Jakarta Thursday, met with jailed East
Timor separatist leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in
Cipinang jail, East Jakarta, yesterday morning.

The UN has been sponsoring talks between the Indonesian and
Portuguese foreign ministers to find an internationally
acceptable solution to the East Timor issue.

Marker is scheduled to meet with Habibie this morning.

Later yesterday, Xanana also met with Dili Bishop Carlos
Felipe Ximenes Belo who was on a visit to the capital.

Speaking to reporters after the two visits, Xanana hailed the
planned opening of diplomatic interest sections in Indonesia and
Portugal, saying it would help improve relations.

"My release should not be made a precondition for the talks on
East Timor, including the opening of a special interest body
between Indonesia and Portugal."

Portugal recently included Xanana's release as a condition to
the opening of the diplomatic interest representation.

Xanana also said that demonstrations were not the solution and
that it was more important to create a conducive climate for
dialog.

"I've said that if all Timorese are pro-integration then I
would follow. But the reality is different and there has been no
opportunity for people to express how they feel," he was quoted
by Antara as saying.

"We have really never been anti-integration. But the way it is
forced upon us to be part of Indonesian territory is what we
don't like."

Separately here yesterday, Indonesian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas said he was set to meet his Portuguese
counterpart for the next round of talks under the auspices of the
UN secretary-general in August.

Alatas said UN Secretary-General Koffi Annan had invited the
Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers to a meeting early
next month, although the exact date and place have yet to be set.

The meeting is likely to discuss Indonesia's latest proposal
on special autonomy status for the province.

Alatas said that during a meeting with Marker on Thursday, the
UN special envoy said Lisbon appeared to favorably greet the
Indonesian offer.

"Marker got the impression that the Portuguese government has
given a positive reaction to the government's offer which is
considered as a new proposal," he said in a hearing with House
Commission I on foreign affairs and information.

He said Marker also confirmed that the Portuguese government
was interested in discussing further the Indonesian proposal in
tripartite talks with Indonesia and UN.

The foreign minister also said that Bishop Belo gave a
positive response to the proposal.

"I have explained to him the proposal in detail and as far as
I understand Belo considers the Indonesian government's offer of
special status as a good proposal," he said. The two met here on
Thursday.

According to Alatas, Belo gave input that in 15 to 20 years
after the special status took effect, the government should give
people in the province the opportunity to evaluate whether they
would continue with the special status or make a self-
determination referendum. (rms/prb/aan)