Military appeals for calm in E. Timor

Military appeals for calm in E. Timor

DILI, East Timor (JP): The military authority appealed for
calm yesterday after the city was rocked by a series of violent
demonstrations.

Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adang Ruchiatna
Puradiredja flew in from his headquarters in Denpasar on Friday
night to oversee the operation to restore calm and order.

Adang, who was scheduled to be replaced on Monday, promised
the East Timorese that the people responsible for the rioting
would be brought to justice.

This includes a correctional facility official whose remarks
to inmates at Maliana prison, 73 kilometers southwest of Dili,
reportedly offended the local people and sparked the unrest on
Friday.

"This is a state based on law. Those who are guilty will be
prosecuted," Adang told reporters on Friday night.

Sanusi, a warden at the Maliana correctional facility, is
already in police custody.

Twenty-four inmates said they heard him making offensive
remarks about Roman Catholicism last Monday. When news of this
reached the public, apparently through leaflets produced by
inmates, a group of people went to look for Sanusi at his
residence in Dili on Friday.

When they could not find Sanusi at home, the rioting began. It
quickly spread to other parts of Dili and a number of neighboring
towns.

"We won't let him go," Adang said during a press briefing also
attended by Col. Mahidin Simbolon, the chief of the East Timor
Military District, and Sugianto Andreas, the East Timor police
chief.

Adang appealed to the public for restraint. "Don't let
yourselves be easily provoked," he said.

Adang said that 41 of the people who took part in the riots
have been detained for questioning.

He said that six officers were injured during the riots and
several police vehicles were overturned and set on fire.

One person was reported to have died in the rioting and
several others were injured. Police arrested a total of 46 people
for rioting.

Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo also visited the scene
of the riots on Friday and made a public appeal for calm.

"We know the task of the Bishop is very difficult," Maj. Gen.
Adang said, urging the people to heed Belo's call. "If people
don't listen to the Bishop, who else will they listen to?" (yac)