East Timor veterans removed

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Police forcibly evacuated some 500 former prointegration militiamen from East Timor on Tuesday.

Grouped under the Indonesian Veterans Legion (LVRI), they demonstrated at the governor's office demanding that the Indonesian government pay greater attention to their future.

Hailing from Belu, Kovalima, Bobonaro, Oecusi, Lospalos and Alas, these former militiamen, along with their family members, were evicted at about 6:30 a.m.

The evacuation went without incident. Some veterans said they were disappointed as the authorities rejected their demand to meet the President and the Minister of Defense in Jakarta to press their plight.

They claim that the Indonesian government have abandoned them, now that their service was no longer needed.

Meanwhile, a provincial government official, Al. Foenay, who led the evacuation, said the demands of LVRI members were irrelevant. He said that some 200 of the veterans had received a donation of Rp 80 million from the local administration to fly to Jakarta.

LVRI coordinator, Gabriel Mau, said he was disappointed at the way the provincial administration and security officers had treated the former militiamen. He added that the occupation of the governor's office was actually an appeal for more attention from the government for over 1,400 veterans seeking refuge in West Timor since East Timor held a referendum in 1999.

"If the government had given us what we were entitled to, we would not be doing things like this," Gabriel said. (30)