Lopes says pilgrimage to Portugal politically successful

Lopes says pilgrimage to Portugal politically successful

JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of East Timorese pilgrims returning
from the holy Catholic shrine of Fatima in Portugal this month
say their mission has raised Indonesia's standing on the East
Timor issue.

The harassment against the East Timorese when they arrived at
the Portela airport in Lisbon proved to be "a blessing in
disguise" because the delegation subsequently won sympathies from
the Portuguese government and the public, F.X. Lopes da Cruz, who
headed the 41-member delegation, told reporters yesterday.

Although the visit was purely religious with no political
intentions, the "Portela incident" proved to strengthen
Indonesia's political stand in the East Timor issue, Lopes said.

"We were given VIP treatment during our pilgrimage. Our
aggressors, on the other hand, were widely criticized by the
local media," he said at a press conference to explain and show a
video of news clips of the visit.

Upon their arrival at the Portela airport on May 10, the
delegation was warmly greeted by about 200 of the 1,800 East
Timorese living in Portugal.

However, they were also met by a group of riotous
demonstrators wearing black shirts who called them "traitors",
"murderers" and "sellers of East Timor".

The protesters also carried banners saying "Set East Timor
free" and "East Timor is not Indonesia".

"Although they were yelling at us, we did not react," said
Lopes, who has been appointed by President Soeharto as
ambassador-at-large for East Timor affairs.

The East Timorese pilgrims were pelted with rotten eggs coming
from every direction.

"We were very shocked when a heavy plastic bag containing
rubbish hit us. Its contents, which seemed to be mixed with
pepper, stung our eyes and made us blind for several minutes and
caused us to stumble and fall," he said.

Among the demonstrators were the seven young men from East
Timor whom Lopes accommodated at his home in Jakarta last year
after they failed to obtain political asylum from either Sweden
or Finland. The seven subsequently obtained asylum in Portugal.

Lopes counted 28 demonstrators, including Joao Viegas
Carrascalao, Jose Manuel Ramos Horta, Barbedo Magalhaes, Luisa
Teotonio Pereira and Mario Tome who are known to have strongly
opposed the East Timor's integration with Indonesia.

"We made the headlines everyday during our visit," Lopes said,
adding that although the visit was purely of a religious nature,
it was probably "most successful politically".

Frustration

Lopes viewed the protest was engineered by Joao Carrascalao,
Jose Ramos Horta and Portuguese non-governmental organizations
"who were frustrated and disappointed at the Portuguese
government for willing to meet with Indonesian East Timorese".

They were hoping to draw sympathy from the Portuguese public,
which would allow them to continue to receive funds from the
Portuguese government for their political actions, he said.

"They expected an extreme reaction from us and thought we
would cancel our pilgrimage to Fatima. But we didn't and their
actions boomeranged as the public gave us their sympathy."

The delegation completed their three-day visit to Fatima and
proceeded to the Vatican and Rome. They returned to Indonesia on
May 21.

He received an official apology from the Portuguese government
extended through the public protection police commissioner, Gen.
Aires, who guaranteed the delegation's safety.

Portugal Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso also
viewed the physical aggression as unseemly and promised to
"search for more detailed information to solve the problem".

"Even the press, including those who were anti-Indonesia,
called the aggressors 'uncivilized' and 'vandals'," Lopes said.

The press had said that the aggressors "may have been right,
but what they did has secured them a big loss".

Lopes hoped that more pilgrimage would take place in the
future. "We need to make more intensive approaches to the
Portuguese public," he said.(pwn)