Peace pledge may be signed in Dili, Gen. Wiranto says

DILI, East Timor (JP): After arriving here on Tuesday, Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto proposed the signing of a pledge of peace by warring proindependence and pro-Indonesian groups.

The truce will be signed on Wednesday if conflicting parties agree, Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif said after Wiranto's arrival. Wiranto was whisked away to the provincial military commander's residence where he was scheduled to meet prointegration groups.

He was also to meet with members of the National Commission on Human Rights who are developing the newly set up East Timor National Commission on Human Rights.

On Wednesday Wiranto will meet Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate Dili Bishop Felipe Carlos Ximenes Belo and Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares. If agreed to, the "memorandum of peace" signing will be witnessed by Wiranto, Belo and other dignitaries, Syamsul said.

"Let's just hope there'll be no bombs," Belo said at the Comoro airport after welcoming Wiranto here on Tuesday evening.

Regarding the possibility of such a truce after at least 14 were killed in clashes between the two groups on Saturday and Sunday, he said, "Just ask the military commander and police chief." He was referring to Dili military commander Col. Tono Suratman and police chief Timbul Silaen.

The site of the pledge signing was not revealed.

Prointegration leader Eurico Guetterres said after a meeting with Gen. Wiranto that he supported efforts for peace in East Timor, saying the planned pledge of peace was the initiative of the government.

He added, "The church should not intervene too much in politics in East Timor."

He also said he would support talks for reconciliation planned by Belo for this week if the proindependence groups were really serious about making peace.

A leader of proindependence group CNRT, Frederico De Almeida, said he would check beforehand the contents of the peace agreement. He would give his backing if it was "clear" and was supported by most East Timorese.

Rights commission member B.N. Marbun told The Jakarta Post after meeting with Gen. Wiranto that the commission was drawing up a peace program to be offered to pro-autonomy, proindependence and prointegration groups.

He said the commission would support the pledge of peace and would send it by fax to jailed rebel leader Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in Jakarta to sign it.

Dili resumed activity ahead of Wiranto's visit on Tuesday, as shops opened and public transportation was available. The capital had remained quite since Saturday's violence throughout the city.

A passenger ship arrived on its weekly schedule with the usual security presence at the port. Student passengers said that although their hometown was tense, they were getting used to it.

"It's always like this, this is my home and I have to return," Johnny, from Dili's Administration Academy, said. He and his group were returning from field studies in Denpasar, Bali.

Meanwhile, Col. Tono Suratman said the bodies of 12 people killed in Saturday's violence had been returned to their families for burial. The son of proindependence leader Manuel Carasscalao, Mario, was buried on Monday at 6 p.m. in Commoro, Dili.

The rights commission on Tuesday met eight prointegration figures, largely from the Forum for Democracy, Peace and Justice headed by Dili Regent Domingos Soares.

Proindependence figures were more difficult to contact, as some of them were in hiding from opposition militias or had reportedly fled overseas. The commission met Manuel and a few others.

Commission members said both sides had agreed "not to use their weapons" with the condition that the law be enforced.

The arrest of five people for involvement in the Saturday violence was a sign the law enforcers were beginning to do their job, commission members said.

On Tuesday, Col. Timbul Silaen said the death toll from the violence on Saturday and Sunday was 14, while several others were injured. He had earlier said a possible 20 were killed in at least three separate incidents of violence on Saturday. He said one was killed on Sunday. (33/anr/rms)