East Timor peace pact signed

DILI, East Timor (JP): A pledge of peace was signed here on Wednesday between warring prointegration and proindependence groups. Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and jailed independence leader Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao were among the signatories.

In the emotional ceremony that is expected to end months of violence, the government was also represented by National Police Chief Gen. Roesmanhadi and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo HS.

The National Commission of Human Rights organized the meeting, while Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento also signed as witnesses.

The peace pact was faxed to the special detention house in Jakarta to get Xanana's signature.

Xanana and Leandro Isac represented the CNRT proindependence organization, while the prointegration group was represented by its leader Joao das Silva Tavares and chairman of the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice (FPDK) Domingos Soares.

East Timor Police chief Col. Timbul Silaen, East Timor military commander Col. Tono Suratman, and Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares also signed the historic document.

"The peace pact will only be a piece of paper... a bitter memory that we once made peace," if the pact is broken, Wiranto said.

He appealed to both sides to make known the peace pact to all supporters in the villages, mountains and forests.

Goodwill

A gesture of goodwill was displayed later in the day at Dili Police Headquarters, as the commander of the prointegration militia group Red-and-White-Iron, Manuel Sousa, and a number of his men, surrendered 11 homemade rifles, which Wiranto inspected before flying back to Jakarta. Wiranto arrived in Dili on Tuesday.

Barely had investigations started into the Liquica incident, in which 25 people are believed to have been killed by prointegration militia in early April. At least 14 independence sympathizers were killed on Saturday and Sunday at separate places around Dili.

Another proindependence figure, Manuel Carrascalao, whose son was killed on Saturday, also was present at the ceremony.

Commenting on whether the peace pact was not too soon after the weekend incidents, deputy head of the commission Djoko Soegijanto, who helped mediate talks among parties, said the incidents had instead added momentum to a resolution.

Djoko said the commission has long lobbied the government to draw up a peace pact.

Members also said the timing of the peace pact would help create a conducive climate for the UN-sponsored talks this week on autonomy for the province.

Wiranto said the direct balloting planned for July to determine the province's future would be impossible without peace.

The document, read by a staff worker from the East Timor National Commission on Human Rights, said conflicting parties agreed to end hostilities and stop violence in the light of the many victims, material losses and "deep fear of residents".

All conflicting parties were obligated to take "necessary measures" to implement the peace pact involving both armed and unarmed supporters.

A Committee of Peace and Stability, with two members from both sides, was assigned to monitor the implementation of the pact.

All violators of the pact, Wiranto said, would face legal action.

Wiranto also pledged to instruct all security personnel in the province to enforce the law impartially.

Meanwhile, Antara news agency reported from New York on Wednesday that despite recent tensions in East Timor, the UN- sponsored talks between Indonesia and Portugal continued.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said on Tuesday the talks, to discuss the special autonomy proposal for East Timor, began with a senior officials meeting.

Separately, 54 members of the United States Senate sent a letter to President Bill Clinton on Tuesday to encourage the Indonesian government and East Timorese people to support the tripartite talks.

Australian newspapers reported on Wednesday that President B.J. Habibie pledged to honor his offer of autonomy or independence for East Timor. He made the pledge in a meeting with a group of Australian editors in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Habibie also said in the meeting that he had suggested five nations -- the United States, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Germany -- to coordinate preparations for the UN-supervised direct vote on autonomy scheduled for July.

From London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair has written a strongly worded letter to Habibie to register his concern at a new wave of killings in East Timor, a British Foreign Office minister said on Tuesday.

"The Prime Minister has written to President Habibie drawing his attention to our great concern about the situation," Reuters quoted Foreign Office minister Tony Lloyd as saying. (33/rms/anr)