Jailed Xanana outlines East Timor program

Jailed Xanana outlines East Timor program

JAKARTA (JP): Jailed East Timor resistance leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao promised on Wednesday to offer amnesty
to his political opponents if East Timorese voted for
independence on the Aug. 30 ballot.

"This act of generosity transcends our emotions, heals wounds
and elevates the soul of our people. I wholeheartedly appeal for
an immediate end to violence," he said in a press conference at
his detention house in Central Jakarta.

The press conference was conducted in three languages in
succession: Portuguese, English and Indonesian. More than 50
local and foreign journalists attended.

In his first comprehensive program proposal for an independent
East Timor to be renamed Timor Lorosae, Xanana said he would
immediately hold negotiations with the Indonesian government to
define the status of East Timorese civil servants, maintain the
rupiah currency and protect the rights of Indonesians who decided
to live and work in East Timor.

At least 460,000 people have been registered inside and
outside East Timor to participate in the ballot.

Xanana said if the vote favored proindependence, a
transitional government would set up a five-year development plan
starting from the year 2000.

Xanana shied away from the issue of disarmament despite the
continuing violence that rocked the former Portuguese colony.

Five days before the ballot only a few symbolic gestures of
arms surrender have been carried out by the prointegration
militia. The proindependence militia, Falintil, has said it would
not give up its arms to the Indonesian Military.

In his eight-page statement covering at least 15 points,
Xanana called for the East Timorese to reconcile their
differences and uphold national unity. He declared a fight
against illiteracy and promised empowerment of the society as
well as a self-sufficient economy based on a market economy with
selective intervention from the state.

He declared that solidarity with the Portuguese people is
unbreakable.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported from Vatican City that Pope John
Paul on Wednesday called for reconciliation in East Timor and for
an end to recent violence in Ambon, Maluku.

Speaking at his weekly general audience, the pontiff said he
hoped the people of East Timor would be moved by "a sincere
desire to work for reconciliation and contribute to healing the
painful wounds of the past".

In the East Timor capital of Dili, a sea of people from all
walks of life took to the streets marking the last day of
campaigning for the proindependence faction for Monday's landmark
vote on the territory's future.

Except for a traffic accident that killed two students and
brief tension near a pro-integration office, the rally went
without any trouble. Men and women, boys and girls, youths and
elders mingled in a cheerful parade, which was flagged off at the
National Resistance Council for an Independent East Timor (CNRT)
headquarters in Lesidere subdistrict.

Days of street rallies finally claimed lives with the deaths
of Lorenzo Fernandez, a 16-year-old student of a state-run junior
high school, and a vocational school student, Alberto Gamma
Pinto, also 16. A garbage truck that carried them in the parade
capsized when it took a bend and fell on the teenagers on Jl.
Abilio Monteiro in downtown Dili.

Twelve other passengers were injured and admitted to Dili
General Hospital and Montael polyclinic. Spokesman for provincial
police Capt. Widodo said the driver, Antonio de Jesus, was
arrested on charges of negligence.

"Do or die for independence," the participants of the
motorcade repeatedly shouted.

Displaying pictures of CNRT president Xanana Gusmao and waving
the council's blue, white and green flag, the crowd danced and
sang patriotic songs during the two-hour function at the CNRT
office. Some of the songs were banned in the past.

The people yelled with their hands clenched in a victory sign
in response to spirited speeches delivered by proindependence
figures, who included Manuel Carrascalao. A recorded speech by
self-exiled leader Jose Ramos-Horta was also played to the
audience.

Manuel, who has been in hiding in Jakarta since an assault
that killed his 17-year-old son in April, told the
proindependence crowd to refrain from taking revenge for a series
of attacks from the opposing side.

Meanwhile, a planned meeting between leaders of pro-Jakarta
militia and proindependence armed wing Falintil was postponed. A
member of the Commission for Security and Stability (KPS),
Koesparmono Irsan, said the Falintil leaders cited security
reasons for not turning up for the meeting.

KPS chief Djoko Sugianto said the meeting was rescheduled for
Thursday. (06/33/byg/amd)