Endless sad story of violence

I wonder whether the three famous respectively spiritual, political and revolutionary leaders -- Bishop Belo, Ramos Horta and Xanana Gusmao -- are aware of the fact that they are demonstrating their incapacity to effectively contribute to lessen the hourly growing tension in their homeland.

First, Bishop Belo has not sufficiently used his prestige and considerable influence to convince the conflicting parties in East Timor to respect each other and tolerate differing opinions on the issue of independence. Second, Ramos Horta obviously prefers to travel through Western countries seeking allies who share his hatred toward Indonesia and support his accusations, instead of using all his influence to prevent his followers in East Timor from committing violent acts against their own brothers and sisters. I have never quite understood what special merits earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Third, the freedom fighter Xanana Gusmao calls for a general popular insurrection against armed militia groups at a time when political tensions in East Timor have reached a level where even a little spark can trigger horrible bloodshed or, even worse, a civil war.

From my point of view, none of the abovementioned famous figures has so far given an example of wise and responsible statesmanship. If the three Timorese leaders rightly demand the militia to be disarmed in order to secure a safe and peaceful implementation of the UN-sponsored ballot scheduled for July, where the Timorese can decide whether the province will remain part of Indonesia or become an independent state, then they should make sure that the supporters of independence are disarmed as well.

For decades the three leaders have struggled for an independent East Timor, but now when their dream is tending to become reality, they seem to be having difficulties in dealing with the fact that quite a number of Timorese might want to stay with Indonesia, perhaps because they fear that an independent East Timor could economically not survive and might become another poorhouse of the world, like Haiti or Bangladesh.

The deplorable fact that neither the proindependence nor the proautonomy faction enjoy the privilege of wise leadership raises fears that hostilities and violence between these groups may escalate. Whichever side loses the July ballots will definitely not accept the outcome and respect the voice of the majority of voters. In this case, there would be little hope that the conflict in East Timor could be resolved, leading to an endless sad story of violence.

MRS. HILDEGARD MAY

Jakarta