East Timorese and pro-RI militia hold secret talks

East Timorese and pro-RI militia hold secret talks

SINGAPORE (AP): Groups who fought for East Timor's independence from Indonesia met secretly in Singapore on Sunday with representatives from pro-Jakarta militias to talk about reconciliation.

Kjell Ake Nordquist, head of the department of peace and conflict research at Sweden's Uppsala University, presided over the talks.

Nordquist confirmed the arrival of representatives from the pro-Jakarta Aitarak militia, saying they would meet on Sunday with Falintil pro-independence guerrillas and the National Council for East Timor Resistance.

He declined to give any further details, and all other requests for information Sunday were denied by conference organizers.

Aitarak members believed to be attending the talks include leaders Eurico Gutteres and Joao Tavares.

East Timor, formerly an Indonesian province, was plunged into violence last year when pro-Jakarta militias, backed by the Indonesian military, went on a rampage after the territory voted for independence in a UN sponsored ballot.

Gutteres and six other militia commanders were named by an Indonesian government-appointed human rights investigation as being partly responsible for the destruction and bloodshed.

The talks were expected to focus on repatriation of some 10,000 East Timorese refugees who fled the violence and are still living in West Timor, as well as reconciliation between the pro- and anti-independence forces.

The return of pro-Indonesian militia members to East Timor was also on the agenda.

The Indonesian government has given the refugees until March 31 to decide whether to remain in Indonesia or return to East Timor, now administered by the United Nations.