East Timor rival factions sign pact

East Timor rival factions sign pact

JAKARTA (JP): East Timor's rival factions signed a disarmament
agreement at the Ministry of Justice here on Friday, as the
United Nations mission in the troubled territory accused the
Indonesian Military of helping militia groups intimidate
villagers and assault one old man.

The agreement was signed by jailed independence leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, president of the Resistance Council of
East Timor (CNRT), and Leandro Isaac, a member of CNRT.

Signing for the prointegration faction were Domingus Soares
from the Forum for Peace, Democracy and Justice and civilian
militia commander Joao da Silva Tavares.

Pro and anti-independence leaders grouped in the Commission
for Peace and Stability (KPS), which was set up following a
military-brokered peace deal in the East Timor capital of Dili on
April 21, also called on their respective followers to end
hostilities.

"We have agreed to call on all followers from the CNRT and its
organization Falintil (its armed wing) and the prointegration
faction with its mass organizations to lay down all forms of
firearms, grenades, explosives, homemade weapons and traditional
weapons such as spears, arrows, machetes and others to the
authorities, or police in this case, under the supervision of the
KPS," the seven-point agreement says.

The police, under an agreement signed in May by Indonesia,
Portugal and the United Nations, are responsible for security for
the August ballot in which East Timorese will choose between
independence or autonomy within Indonesia.

The document says that both factions "agreed to stop enmity or
violence and to stop legal violations against anyone or any
group".

It says that both factions "will invite all followers to
actively participate in the popular consultation, from the voter
registration period to the polling day".

The document also says that "the violations of the agreement
will be referred to the KPS to be forwarded to the authorities".

Also present at the signing were representatives from the Dili
Church, local military and police, the United Nations Mission in
East Timor and rights organizations.

The signatories then met Minister of Defense and Security
/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto.

He said the agreement, the second regarding disarmament of the
disputing parties after the peace pact in Dili, was only "a moral
guarantee".

Violations from both sides would be handled by the Indonesian
police, in line with the New York agreement of May 5 regarding
the ballot, Wiranto said.

He also denied UNAMET's statement that said its officers had
witnessed Indonesian soldiers directing violent actions against
civilians on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Muslim
Organization, Abdurrahman Wahid, said on Friday that he will
leave for East Timor later this month to try to persuade East
Timorese to fully accept the result of the August ballot.

Accusations

The United Nations said in Dili on Friday that its officers
saw soldiers directing pro-Jakarta East Timorese militiamen
burning houses and beating up an old man.

"Our team encountered... groups of Besi Merah Putih militia,
accompanied and directed by TNI (the Indonesian Military)
soldiers and witnessed those groups in the act of burning
property and assaulting an old man," UNAMET chief Ian Martin told
reporters in Dili.

Witnesses said militiamen armed with machetes looted houses in
Leotela village, 30 kilometers west of Dili, before dousing them
with petrol and lighting them. Martin said the militias wanted to
drive people out of the village.

The violence between pro and anti-independence factions in
East Timor has been on the rise since Jakarta said in January it
would let go the territory if its people rejected an autonomy
offer.

Martin added that the United Nations had also discovered
several home-made guns on Thursday at the house of a militia
member.

"These things we have reported and taken up at senior levels
with the Indonesian Military and police because they make clear
how much still remains to be done if conditions of security are
to be created for the popular consultation," Martin said.

"We remain very seriously concerned indeed about the security
situation, especially... in the western districts."

Martin also said East Timorese officials were campaigning
against independence in contravention of a deal between Portugal
and Indonesia signed at the United Nations in May.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan must decide by Wednesday if
conditions in the troubled territory are right for a fair vote.
Martin declined to comment on the possibility of a delay.
(33/byg/imn/rms)