Fretilin rebels kill 3 civilians

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)