Four killed in separate attacks in East Timor

Four killed in separate attacks in East Timor

DILI, East Timor (JP): Four people were shot dead in two
separate clashes in East Timor on Monday, police and military
said.

The first clash took place when proindependence guerrillas
ambushed a car carrying six men, including a local official and
soldiers, on a road outside of Maligu village in Bobonaro
regency, about 165 kilometers southwest of Dili, the spokesman
for the East Timor Police, Capt. Widodo, said.

He said Manuel Soares Gama, a 51-year-old local official, died
instantly. Army Pvt. Angelino Asa Bere, 40, died later at a
hospital in the nearby town of Maliana.

The four who survived the attack were the car's driver, two
employees of a local electricity plant and an Army corporal.

Widodo said security forces were searching for the attackers.

In a separate incident, troops killed two rebel guerrillas in
an armed clash near Ermera regency, 60 kilometers southwest of
Dili, on early Monday, East Timor deputy military chief Col.
Mudjiono said.

Violence between proindependence and prointegration groups has
escalated since the government's announcement in January that it
would let the troubled province go if its wide-range autonomy
proposal was rejected by the East Timorese.

In Jakarta, chairman of the National Commission on Human
Rights Marzuki Darusman said on Monday the government needed to
clarify the confusion over the number of casualties in an attack
on proindependence supporters in Liquica last week.

The Armed Forces (ABRI) insists five people were killed in the
attack. Dili Bishop and Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Carlos
Filipe Ximenes Belo said at least 25 people were killed in the
violence.

"We need a third party to clarify the issue fairly and
openly ... so (the matter) does not aggravate and complicate the
already difficult situation there," Marzuki said.

The secretary-general of the rights commission, Clementino dos
Reis Amaral, said last Friday the rights body would send a fact-
finding team to the province this week to investigate the attack.

Also in Jakarta on Monday, President B.J. Habibie summoned
several Cabinet members to finalize the draft of the government's
autonomy proposal for East Timor. Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali
Alatas said he hoped the final document would be completed on
Wednesday.

Alatas said the government was being very careful in drafting
the proposal because it wanted to submit a comprehensive
document.

"Do not expect spectacular progress because this work must be
conducted carefully," Alatas said.

Habibie's adviser on foreign affairs, Dewi Fortuna Anwar,
disclosed details of the draft in an interview with The Jakarta
Post on Saturday. According to Dewi, who is actively involved in
drafting the proposal, the plan is similar to the autonomy China
gave Hong Kong.

Alatas described Dewi's statement as speculation. "Hong Kong
is Hong Kong, Timtim (East Timor) is Timtim," he said.

Dewi met with Habibie after his meeting with the Cabinet
ministers.

"I still cannot specifically disclose the contents of the
package because if I elaborate it will violate procedures,"
Alatas said about his agreement with United Nations Secretary-
General Kofi Annan and Portuguese Minister of Foreign Affairs
Jaime Gama.

Alatas indicated he would meet with Gama under the auspices of
the United Nations later this month.

Meanwhile, a visiting emissary of Pope John Paul II called on
East Timorese in Dili on Monday to pray for peace in the troubled
territory.

The call was read out by Vatican Ambassador to Indonesia
Monsignor Renzo Fratini during a Mass attended by 5,000 people,
60 priests and 150 nuns in Dili Cathedral.

"Pope John Paul II sends his warm regards to Catholics and all
people of East Timor ... and hopefully peace and justice will
bloom here ... ," Fratini said.

"All East Timorese must try to establish unity and peace so
that harmonious coexistence can soon be realized," Fratini quoted
the Pope as saying.

Fratini, who arrived in Dili on Saturday, has met with
farmers, fishermen and traders, and also has visited thousands of
youths in the town of Manatuto, 64 kilometers east of Dili.

He is scheduled to return to Jakarta on Tuesday.

Fratini said he understood the differences in political views
among East Timorese but pleaded that the differences not result
in violence.

In Yogyakarta, about 150 East Timorese students rallied on the
campus of Gadjah Mada University on Monday in support of a call
by East Timorese independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana"
Gusmao for proindependence groups to fight back against
prointegration forces.

Meanwhile, hundreds of East Timorese students in the Central
Java capital of Semarang have begun leaving for East Timor in
order to participate in the United Nations-sponsored direct
ballot to determine the province's future. The ballot is
scheduled for July. (23/33/44/byg/har/prb)