Fretilin rebels kill 3 civilians

DILI, East Timor (JP): Fretilin separatist rebels raided a village and killed three civilians in Baucau on Monday night, local military commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon said yesterday.

Simbolon told journalists the attack occurred in the village of Sanagai.

"We are tracking them (the rebels) down. People are expected to inform us of their whereabouts," he said.

He said the killing of innocent civilians showed that the separatist movement had lost the support of the public. "In fact, it is the beginning of the end of Fretilin."

Simbolon identified the three civilian victims as M. Adil, a foreman of PT Citra Tama's road project; Martinho; and Marito Ximenes. The latter two were brothers.

Witnesses said that seven unidentified men brandishing rifles, pistols and knives appeared out of the darkness and attacked the victims.

Adil was reportedly dragged out of his base camp and shot dead, while his fellow workers, who happened to be out of the camp at the time, managed to escape.

Later, the rebels broke into a nearby house and killed Martinho and Ximenes, witnesses said.

Simbolon repeated the government's call to the people of East Timor to stay calm and to be wary of Fretilin's propaganda.

Late last month, Indonesian soldiers in Wailakama village, Baucau, shot dead two young East Timorese who, they said, were Fretilin rebels.

The two men, identified as Marcelino da Silva Belo and Augusto Freitas Belo, were killed while troops were searching for rebels who had reportedly shot and wounded the chief of the Vemasse military post several days earlier. (yac/imn/pan)