East Timorese say `no'

East Timorese say `no'

JAKARTA (JP): East Timorese have overwhelmingly voted against
integration with Indonesia, paving the way for an end to the 24-
years of violent annexation of the former Portuguese colony.

Announcing the result of Monday's historic ballot in East
Timor, the United Nations said on Saturday that 344,580, or 78.5
percent of valid votes cast, rejected Indonesia's offer for an
autonomy package, and 94,388, or 21.5 percent, voted in favor.

"The people of East Timor have thus rejected the proposed
special autonomy and expressed their wish to begin a process of
transition toward independence," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan
said before a specially convened, albeit brief, session of the
Security Council late Friday.

The result was simultaneously announced in Dili, capital of
East Timor, by Ian Martin, the head of the UN's Mission in East
Timor (UNAMET) which organized the ballot, on Saturday morning.

"After 24 years of conflict, East Timor now stands on the
threshold of what we all hope will be a process of orderly and
peaceful transition toward independence.

"The coming days, however, will require patience and calm from
the people of East Timor. I hardly need stress how important it
is for its leaders to exercise wisdom and reason," Annan said.

The UNAMET speeded up the vote counting process, and brought
forward the announcement of the result from the original Sept. 7
schedule, apparently at Indonesia's request.

Amid fears that East Timor could plunge into anarchy during
the long wait, Indonesia demanded that the results be announced
on Saturday morning, saying that postponing it would only lead to
leaks to the press and wild speculations.

By Friday night, it was already apparent that Indonesia had
lost the vote, with President B.J. Habibie already making a pre-
recorded speech addressing the issue to be broadcast nationwide
the next morning.

State-run RRI radio reported that Annan and Habibie talked on
the phone for 10 minutes on Saturday morning to discuss the next
stages of the process.

Annan asked the fate of East Timor guerrilla leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao, who is serving time in Jakarta.

Habibie assured Annan that Xanana would be released soon under
an amnesty.

Minister of Justice said Xanana would be released on
Wednesday.

Monday's ballot came eight months after Habibie made the
surprise announcement that Indonesia was be prepared to let East
Timorese determine their own future. This was a gambit as Habibie
tried to shake off the East Timor problem which had dodged
Indonesia's international standing for the last 24 years.

The move led to the milestone May 5 agreement between
Indonesia and Portugal at the United Nations which calls for a
UN-sponsored "popular consultation" in East Timor.

As late as Monday, the Indonesian government still seemed
confident it would clinch the vote, with Habibie making a
passionate appeal to "East Timorese brothers and sisters" on the
eve of the ballot to accept the offer for an autonomy package.

Indonesia, which under the May 5 agreement is responsible for
the security arrangement in East Timor, has come under strong
criticisms for its failure to promote peace and order in the run-
up and after the ballot.

The Indonesian Military was singled out for its inability to
control the pro-Indonesia militia, which has been blamed for much
of the violence in recent months.

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) will have to convene
to formalize the separation of East Timor from the republic. It
was the MPR which "integrated" East Timor to become Indonesia's
27th province in 1976, a move that has never been recognized by
the United Nations and much of the world.

The MPR is expected to endorse the separation in its meeting
in November, when it will also elect a new president. Habibie had
indicated a formal separation could begin as of Jan. 1, 2000.

With details of the transition of power from Indonesia to the
United Nations still not worked out, including the precarious
issue of security, East Timor could be in for more uncertainty
and even violence.

Annan in his address called for reconciliation among the
opposing camps in East Timor.

"Those who voted to accept the proposed special autonomy must
not consider this outcome a loss. Nor indeed should the majority
consider it a victory; for there are no winners and no losers
today. Rather, this moment heralds the opportunity for all East
Timorese to begin to forge together a common future in what is to
become an independent East Timor.

"Today, I ask all parties to bring to an end the violence
which for 24 years has caused untold suffering to East Timor. I
ask them to begin in earnest a process of dialog and
reconciliation through the East Timor Consultative Commission."

Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo also emphasized on
reconciliation in his first public reaction to the announcement,
which he likened as "Vox Dei Vox Populi" (the voice of God, the
voice of the people).

"Every one should forgive and embrace one another one another
like brothers and sisters and accept the result of the population
consultation with an open heart and wisdom," Belo, the 1996 Nobel
Peace Price winner, was quoted by Antara as saying.

"Let's put those bitter and gray days behind us. Let's look to
tomorrow that is filled with promises, hope and challenges," he
said in Dili.

Xanana was not in the special detention house in Central
Jakarta when the result was announced but he was returned later
in the day to give his first public comments on the outcome.

Officials said Xanana, whom many expect to become the first
president of an independent East Timor, had been sent back to the
Cipinang penitentiary "for safety reason".

Trying to look calm but at times showing his elation, Xanana
said Aug. 30, the day of the ballot, "will be eternally
remembered as the day of National Liberation.

He called it a success of the Maubere people, the term used
for ethnic East Timorese.

"The history of the past 23 years has largely demonstrated
that between losing their lives and their homeland, the Maubere
people opted for the first. And this sacrifice of more than
250,000 lives was not in vain," he said.

He tempered his celebration with the sad situation in his
homeland. "Today could have been a happy day, a day of
celebrations. But today, violence is the rule ..." he said.

Resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta, who shared the Nobel Peace
award with Bishop Belo, also saluted the courage of his fellow
East Timorese in defying a "relentless campaign of terror" to
vote for independence from Indonesia.

"What a lesson of courage!" Ramos-Horta told Reuters by
telephone shortly after landing in New York after a flight from
his home in Sydney.

Horta paid tribute to President Habibie for "courage and
statesmanship" in setting up the ballot and praised Indonesian
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas for "pushing through the process over
the wishes of the hardliners in the army."

He said he would return to his homeland as soon as the United
Nations assured him security was adequate -- "I hope in the
course of this month."

Abilio Araujo, the chairman of the Timor Nationalist Party
which had campaigned to accept Indonesia's autonomy proposal,
called on all sides to accept the ballot result and avoid
bloodshed that would only bring more suffering for the people.

"I hope all East Timorese public leaders could immediately
initiate a reconciliation process for a better future," Araujo
was quoted by Antara as saying in Lisbon.

The pro-Indonesia militia had warned that it would not accept
the ballot result, accusing UNAMET of favoring the pro-
independence camp and of rigging the vote. It had also threatened
to fight for a partition of the already divided island.

On Saturday, Eurico Guterres, the commander of the pro-
Indonesia Aitarak militia, said in Dili he accepted the outcome
of the vote, but warned that "there is still the problem of the
21 percent." (emb/emf/prb)