Habibie seeks E. Timor peace

Habibie seeks E. Timor peace

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie endorsed the
establishment of an independent rights commission to disarm
warring factions in East Timor and restore peace so an
international presence would not be needed there, it was reported
on Tuesday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas revealed the
development on Tuesday, saying the new commission was expected to
be able to persuade warring factions to lay down their arms,
particularly before and during a United Nations-sponsored direct
ballot in July which will allow the people of East Timor to
choose between independence or the government's wide-ranging
autonomy proposal.

Jailed rebel leader Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao has agreed to be
part of the Independent Commission on Human Rights in Timor
Lorosae, as has rights activist Bambang W. Soeharto, but there
were no other details available about the number of members on
the rights commission or who would chair the commission.

Alatas said Habibie called for a cease-fire among warring
factions in the province and ordered his Cabinet ministers to
help provide the International Committee of the Red Cross access
to work in the province.

"The President regards this idea (the commission) as very
relevant... especially asking them (the warring factions) to lay
down their guns and stop their armed conflicts," Alatas said
after accompanying the President to a meeting with the National
Commission on Human Rights.

The chairman of the rights commission, Marzuki Darusman, said
the new rights commission in East Timor would not involve East
Timorese living in exile. "This team is only for East Timorese
people living here."

Marzuki indicated it was possible that Xanana could visit Dili
despite his status as a convict if his presence could help secure
peace in the troubled province.

Marzuki hoped the commission would be able to bring peace so
the presence of an international peacekeeping military operation
would not be needed in the province.

Meanwhile, in the East Timor capital of Dili, deputy police
chief Col. Muafi Sahudji said on late Monday a group of men
attacked a state prison in Baucau regency, some 115 kilometers
east of Dili, injuring three members of the National Police's
Mobile Brigade unit on duty there.

The assailants, suspected to be members of Falintil, the armed
wing of the East Timorese proindependence movement, fired shots
and threw grenades and Molotov cocktails in the attack, Muafi
said.

Treatment

He said the victims would be sent to the military hospital in
Dili for treatment.

In a separate incident, Antara reported an Army private was
injured after a number of proindependence guerrillas attacked a
military post in Viqueque regency, some 197 kilometers southeast
of Dili, on early Tuesday.

The spokesman for the East Timor Military Command, Capt. Agus
Nurkasa, was quoted by the news agency as saying that Private
Kasnu had been taken to the Wira Husada Hospital in Dili.

Agus said security forces were still searching for the
guerrillas.

Tension has been escalating in East Timor since Jakarta
announced in January it would consider independence for the
former Portuguese colony if its autonomy proposal was rejected.

Fear of escalating violence since the January announcement has
sparked an exodus of migrants from the province, although the
precise number is unknown.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet Tallo was quoted by Antara as
saying on Tuesday that about 26,000 people had fled from East
Timor to his province since the January announcement.

"Currently, the number of people who have fled from East Timor
across to East Nusa Tenggara has reached about 26,000, scattered
in several regencies," Piet was quoted as saying.

Tallo said 6,000 refugees were in Alor regency. He identified
other main refugee sites as the border regencies of Atambua and
Belo.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on
Monday urged restraint in East Timor, adding he had personally
called and asked Habibie to control the volatile situation in the
territory.

"I have myself appealed for restraint and I spoke to President
Habibie over the weekend ... encouraging the government to take
all necessary steps to contain the situation," Annan said during
a visit to Madrid.

He said the UN was not in a position to play a role on the
ground in East Timor.

"What we have are persuasive powers and contacts with the
government in asking them to exercise their role of being
responsible for peace and security in the territory and I hope
this will happen," Annan said.

"We also have appealed for restraint on all sides -- the
proindependence elements and the prointegration elements."

On April 21, Indonesia is expected to resume talks with
Portugal under the auspices of the UN.

Antara also reported Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto met
on Tuesday with the chief of the Udayana Regional Military
Command overseeing East Timor, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, East Timor
Military Commander Col. Tono Suratman and head of the ABRI
Intelligence Agency Maj. Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, to discuss the
situation in the territory. (33/byg/prb)