East Timor exodus continues

East Timor exodus continues

DILI (JP): The demand for containers is rising and at least
100 cars and 120 motorbikes have been sent out of East Timor by
their owners since the government announced its plan to let go of
the tiny province, local officials said on Tuesday.

Head of the Dili Port Authority Noke A. Rahakbouw described
how a large number of people, mostly migrants, were not only
sending out vehicles but also other belongings such as TVs,
refrigerators and furniture. The main destinations are Surabaya
in East Java and Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi.

"The vehicles comprise trucks, Kijang vans, and Taft jeeps.
They are also filled with beds, mattresses, and kitchen
equipment," Noke told journalists at his office.

Apparently worried about their future security following the
new policy shift, these people also have booked at least 12
containers from a forwarding firm, PT Taruna Kusan, despite
rising tariffs.

The head of the private firm, who identified himself only as
Edo, said teachers of the most popular state-run senior high
school SMA I have booked at least four containers. The cost of
each container bound for Surabaya is Rp 3 million (US$352).

Chief of the East Timor Provincial Police Col. Timbul Silaen
meanwhile said only 56 cars and 120 motorbikes have been sent out
of the province since November. However, he conceded that police
did not have firm data on the dispatch of vehicles by land to
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara.

Meanwhile, thousands of mourners on Tuesday marched peacefully
to escort the coffin of 25-year-old Benedito de Jesus Pirres.
Thousands of other people lined the 3 kilometer route from his
home at Bairopits in West Dili to the Santa Cruz public cemetery.

Benedito was shot in the head on Sunday by an unidentified
gunman during a violent clash between pro-independence and pro-
Indonesian youths in Aikloran, not far from his house.

While the mourners sang hymns, some people shouted "Viva Timor
Leste (East Timor as it is known locally) " and "Long live
independence".

Police and security personnel tightly guarded the procession
and the cemetery, where at least 50 people were killed when
soldiers opened fire on demonstrators in November 1991.

"Let us live in peace," Father Adrianus Ola said in his sermon
at the cemetery.

Police have vowed to thoroughly investigate the death. Pro-
independence groups accused pro-Indonesian youths of starting the
violence with unprovoked shooting, while the villagers resisted
with arrows and knives.

The groups also alleged the Armed Forces (ABRI) had armed pro-
integration youths with rifles and pistols in order to create
chaos. ABRI has categorically denied the allegations.

Rojario Hercules, an East Timorese regarded as one of the most
ruthless hoodlums in Jakarta until last year, told Tempo news
weekly recently he would be able to restore security in his
native province if his 5,000-strong group of supporters were
properly armed.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas reiterated
that Indonesia would not leave East Timor in an irresponsible
manner as Portugal had done in the 1970s.

"We will not leave East Timor in an irresponsible manner. We
are ready to sit together, and we think we should do so, with
Portugal and the U.N. Secretary-General to arrange the best way
of letting East Timor go," Alatas said on Tuesday, as quoted by
Antara.

The government announced on Jan. 27, that it would let East
Timor separate from Indonesia if its offer of wide-ranging
autonomy was turned down by the East Timorese, Portugal and the
U.N.

Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart Jaime Gama agreed to
continue another round of negotiations under UN auspices on March
10 following their first meeting early this month.

Despite press reports that the first meeting had failed to
achieve any significant progress, especially on the referendum
question, Alatas insisted on Tuesday encouraging results have
been achieved.

"There are only one or two matters concerning the agreement
package which still need to be negotiated further," the official
state agency quoted Alatas as saying.

President B.J. Habibie most recently said he wanted to see an
independent East Timor by Jan. 1 next year, if the province
rejected the autonomy plan.

"This is not a deadline, but a hope that, starting in the year
2000, we will be rid of the burden," Alatas said on Tuesday.

Habibie's advisor on foreign affairs Dewi Fortuna Anwar even
pointed out on Tuesday that Indonesia would sponsor a free East
Timor as the newest member of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN).

Meanwhile visiting Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo
warned in Canberra, Australia, that East Timor would need a
transition period of up to 16 years to become an independent
state.

"We must prepare the people since we have two opposing groups
-- those who seek independence and those that prefer integration.
I think it is necessary to give the process time and later we can
organize everything," AP reported the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize
laureate as saying. (33/prb)