Govt understands Xanana's call to arms

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice Muladi came out of a meeting on Monday with jailed East Timorese leader Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao saying he understood the latter's recent call to arms as urging self-defense against aggression by prointegration militias in East Timor.

"I think it is the right of everybody to defend themselves from the attacks of another group, but Xanana does not want to create a combat situation between prointegration and proindependence groups... he wants a peaceful solution in East Timor," Muladi told a news conference after the 30-minute meeting at the Ministry of Justice.

Muladi said the meeting was held "to clarify" Xanana's statement on April 5 instructing his followers to exercise self- defense against military-backed armed civilians.

"Exercising self-defense is a human right," said Muladi, who is a former member of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Xanana said his statement had been misinterpreted. "War is not the best solution to East Timor's problem," he said. "I appeal to my prointegration friends to resume dialog and the reconciliation process."

Xanana issued the statement shortly after an attack on proindependence supporters in the East Timor regency of Liquica, allegedly by military-backed militia. The military insisted only seven were killed, but Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo said at least 25 people were killed in the violence.

Also on Monday, President B.J. Habibie and his Cabinet endorsed the draft of the government's autonomy proposal for East Timor, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said on Monday.

The minister said he would submit the proposal during the planned tripartite talks with his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama, and United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York on Wednesday.

"We have successfully completed our discussions and reached a decision on the text of a constitutional framework for East Timor's special autonomy," Alatas said in a joint media briefing with Minister of Information Lt. Gen. Muhammad Yunus after attending the plenary Cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office.

The minister, however, refused to speak about the details of the proposal. He only said the document comprises 10 chapters and 60 articles.

He called the autonomy package an annex or an addition to the main agreement recently reached between Indonesia and Portugal.

He said he hoped the UN would soon make known the proposal to East Timorese before organizing a direct ballot to gauge whether East Timorese would accept the autonomy plan or prefer independence.

"It is very wide ranging. Hopefully this autonomy package will be accepted in New York and later we will move forward to promote it, especially to the East Timorese people," Alatas said.

"If it is not accepted then we will leave it to the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) at the end of August to agree upon the separation of East Timor from Indonesia," he added.

Habibie's adviser on foreign affairs, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said if agreed to the package would pave the way for Portugal to drop East Timor's status as its province from the country's constitution.

"Once an agreement is signed, Portugal is (also) obliged to initiate a move in the UN to delete the East Timor issue from the agenda of the General Assembly," said Dewi.

Earlier, Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Chief Gen. Wiranto denied allegations that ABRI was supporting prointegration groups in intimidating their rivals.

He is scheduled to fly to Dili on Tuesday morning to meet East Timorese leaders in a bid to restore peace and security in the province.

Meanwhile, in Dili, at least 1,000 people were inducted into the voluntary civilian security, known as Pamswakarsa, by Dili Regent Domingos Maria das Dores Soares on the grounds of Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares' office.

The governor was conspicuously absent in the ceremony in which members were unarmed and without uniforms. The regent said the civilian security would be assigned to 26 subdistricts in East and West Dili to ensure smooth proceedings of the June 7 elections.

A similar ceremony took place in Aileu regency, some 48 kilometers south of Dili.

However, visiting members of the National Commission on Human Rights said the establishment of the militia could not be tolerated.

"We cannot agree with the establishment of any such organization formed without legal basis," deputy commission chief Djoko Sugijanto told The Jakarta Post.

Meanwhile, police chief Col. Timbul Silaen said five people had been arrested for involvement in the Saturday violence. Other witnesses are being questioned, he told the Post.

Meanwhile, the media again failed to gain access to the Wira Husada military hospital where 12 bodies of the Saturday attack were being kept. They included the body of 18-year-old Mario, son of independence supporter Manuel Carrascalao, the brother of former governor Mario Viegas Carrascalao.

Commission member B.N. Marbun also told the Post that Timbul had assured them he would act on reports that two female relatives of Manuel, a 17-year-old girl and an 83-year old woman, were being held captive by prointegration leader Eurico Gutterres. (anr/33/prb/byg)