East Timor bishop calls for calm political process

East Timor bishop calls for calm political process

FATIMA, Portugal (Reuters): Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop
Ximenes Belo on Sunday urged political groups in East Timor to
settle their differences peacefully as the Asian territory
prepares for full independence.

Ximenes Belo described the political situation in the former
Portuguese colony, currently under transitional administration by
the United Nations, as "somewhat troubled".

"The violence in 1999 was enough and we have to live in a
climate of democracy, albeit with different ideas and political
views, and we have to accept each other," the Bishop said at the
Fatima shrine in Portugal, in comments broadcast by local media.

In 1999, pro-Indonesian militias spread a wave of killing and
destruction in East Timor after people voted overwhelmingly to
end 24 years of often brutal rule from Jakarta in a UN-sponsored
referendum.

Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao recently resigned
as president of the territory's interim parliament in protest at
what he said was political chaos.

Ximenes Belo, who was on a pilgrimage to Fatima, one of Roman
Catholicism's most revered sites, thought that in East Timor:
"There are parties with a certain radicalism."

He also noted two conflicting political currents in the
territory, which was annexed by Indonesia in 1975 in the
aftermath of a revolution in former colonial power Portugal. It
was a move never recognized by the United Nations.

"We have a certain contrast: some say they do not want
democracy, because they already have the bitter experience of a
civil war in 1974 and 1975," Ximenes Belo said.

"But on the other hand we are on our way towards a pluralistic
society," he added.

East Timor is due to elect a constituent assembly in August,
which will then have 90 days to draft a constitution, in line
with a target of achieving full independence by the end of this
year, although UN peacekeepers are expected to stay on.