Jakarta warns East Timor against accusing militiamen

Jakarta warns East Timor against accusing militiamen

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has warned newly established East Timor that it
risks hurting bilateral relations with Indonesia by blaming
former militia members for security disturbances there.

East Timor, Indonesia's former 27th province, has accused
former militia members of involvement in an armed attack in
Tiarelelo and Loubeno villages that killed four people and
injured 12 others last Sunday.

East Timor foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta also blamed
militiamen for a one-day riot that left two dead and dozens of
buildings destroyed in Dili in December.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Wednesday
that pro-Jakarta militia groups no longer existed and the riots
were a domestic issue of the new state.

"They (the accusations) could create unhealthy bilateral
relations between the two countries," Hassan said after meeting
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He further said that there was no connection at all between
the riots and the Indonesian government, just as East Timor Prime
Minister Mari Alkatiri had stated earlier.

"It was refugees who returned to East Timor who were rioting,
so basically it was their own citizens," Hassan said.

Pro-Jakarta militia groups, backed by the Indonesian Military
(TNI), went on a bloody rampage in 1999 after most East Timorese
voted to separate from Indonesia in a United Nations-sponsored
referendum.

The carnage killed dozens of proindependence supporters and
forced at least 250,000 East Timorese to flee to Indonesia's West
Timor. At least 80 percent of the infrastructure in the former
Portuguese colony was also destroyed.

Eighteen military and police personnel as well as civilian
leaders were brought to trial for the violence, but most of them
were acquitted.

Most of the refugees, including former militia members, have
returned to East Timor.

"So, it is no longer valid to accuse former militia members
because the riots may have been caused by a difficult
consolidation process in the new state," Hassan stressed.

According to Hassan, the riots took place due to widespread
public disappointment over the stagnant economic condition that
has led to high unemployment.

"We are aware that instability in one country can effect its
neighboring countries, and we hope East Timor can survive these
difficult situations," Hassan said.