East Timor fears more bloodshed
DILI, East Timor (JP): East Timor Military Commander Col. Noer Muis warned on Sunday of possible bloodshed in the province following the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot, due to the absence of a strong commitment among the warring factions to a reconciliation.
"Bloodshed is quite possible before and after the announcement of the ballot results because neither conflicting factions nor their supporters are ready to accept a defeat. This phenomenon can be seen in the continuing clashes between them during the ongoing campaign period," he told a media gathering on Sunday evening.
Violence has continued in many areas in the territory. A string of clashes in Maliana, Bobonaro, Ainaro and Viqueque last week left at least five people dead and many others injured.
Muis said tension was mounting in Suai, south of the provincial capital, with the number of local people taking refuge in churches increasing to around 3,000, from 1,700 on Friday.
"The refugees have complained about the absence of food and medical supplies," he said.
However, he blamed the proindependence faction for intimidating the people to take shelter in churches. He said the move could be aimed at encouraging the United Nations to send a peacekeeping force.
"Many refugees admitted they had been forced by proindependence rebels to pour into the churches for unclear reasons," he said.
In the latest violence, police and UNAMET police observers unearthed on Sunday a dead body in Lohemia village in Maliana.
Provincial police spokesman Capt. Widodo D.S. told The Jakarta Post in Dili that the body of Agusto dos Santos Martins was found on Saturday. He said Agusto was killed in a clash between proindependence and prointegration supporters in the village on Aug. 18.
Eight other people are still missing following the clash.
"We are still conducting an intensive investigation into the killing and seeking the eight other people who were reportedly tortured to death in the incident," he said.
The body of Agusto was reburied by his relatives in Hose, Maliana, after an autopsy conducted by a UNAMET physician.
Manuel Malaganhes, a local figure in Maliana, said that Agusto and his eight colleagues were tortured to death by prointegration militiamen while on their way from Hose to Lohemia.
"A witness who escaped the murder told me the victims were forced to get out of a minivan, and then were tortured to death," he said, adding that the witness was now under the protection of UNAMET in Maliana.
Reconciliation
Muis, who replaced Col. Tono Suratman early this month, called on the two conflicting factions to continue promoting the ballot's purpose of establishing peace in the territory regardless of the result of the popular consultation.
More than 450,000 people in and outside East Timor are expected to go to the polls on Aug. 30 to decide whether they remain with or break away from Indonesia.
Muis said he was disappointed with the Catholic Church in East Timor, which he said favored the proindependence faction despite increasing calls for its neutrality.
"The Catholic Church authorities should maintain their impartiality and give services to all people," he said.
Earlier in the day, Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo said the Roman Catholic Church would stay out of politics whatever the outcome of the direct ballot.
"The Church will not seize power. It has no desire at all to share earthly power," he said as quoted by Antara.
Belo, the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate, told East Timorese to work for peace and unity in the run-up to the direct ballot, so that it would bring about a reconciliation between proindependence and prointegration supporters.
In Jakarta, jailed East Timor proindependence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao met with his rival faction on Sunday to prepare the establishment of a reconciliatory body for the period immediately after the Aug. 30 vote.
Xanana's lawyer, Johnson Panjaitan of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), who was also present Sunday, told The Jakarta Post by phone that the meeting was aimed at "enhancing the communication between both factions in regard to the formation of an East Timorese consultative body".
Also present on Sunday were chief of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) Ian Martin and pro-Jakarta leaders Lopez da Cruz, Dominggus Policarpo and Eurico Guterres.
East Timorese leaders agreed on Aug. 11 to establish a 25- person commission to foster reconciliation and cooperation in the half-island territory until the results of the UN-run vote are implemented.
Members of the commission will be nominated by each of the warring factions and appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The consultative body will be inaugurated on Aug. 31. (33/rms/byg)