East Timorese demonstrate

YOGYAKARTA: About 300 East Timorese students from universities in Java and Bali demonstrated yesterday in support of Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.

They gathered at a soccer field in northern Yogyakarta where some played soccer for a "Nobel Cup" and others staged a noisy demonstration from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The banner-waving students chanted slogans in support of the East Timorese bishop, and the co-winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize separatist leader Jose Ramos Horta.

"Stop terror, intimidation and tragedy," one banner read. "Father of World Peace, You are Our Hope," the other said in reference to Belo. The demonstrators also shouted slogans in sympathy of Xanana Gusmao, a separatist leader now imprisoned in Jakarta.

Dozens of security officers bowed to the students demand that they should not even try to disperse the protest. They watched the demonstration from afar.

The students accused Jakarta, Lisbon and the United Nations of intentionally dragging their feet in their efforts to resolve the East Timorese problem.

They called on Belo and Horta to join hands and join efforts to seek an end to the problem. (23)