Police provide last sanctuary for Timorese

Police provide last sanctuary for Timorese

DILI, East Timor (JP): Terrified residents and refugees in
East Timor are now only under the protection of Indonesian
police, as local and international red cross workers (ICRC) have
been forced to vacate the province, along with most journalists
and United Nations staff.

Other humanitarian agency workers were also evacuated after
prointegration militia attacked ICRC headquarters.

At about 12:15 the residence of Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe
Ximenes Belo was set on fire and thousands of 2,000 refugees
sheltering in the grounds fled. Some ran to Metiaut, about 500
meters from the Bishop's residence, and were chased.

Antara reported that about 30 people died on Monday at about 5
p.m. during an attack in the Metiaut area, East Dili.

The death toll could not be confirmed.

Staff at the Motael clinic, the Dili General Hospital and the
army's Wira Husada hospital separately told The Jakarta Post late
Monday that no corpses from the shootings had been received at
the hospitals.

The Dili hospital was the only one of the three to admit a
wounded person -- a girl about seven years old who sustained a
gunshot to the head.

"The bullet hit the ground and ricocheted, hitting the girl,"
the hospital worker said, adding that the girl, who he could not
name, was admitted at 2 p.m.

The Bishop was unharmed and was flown to Baucau, some 115
kilometers east of Dili. A priest at the Baucau Diocese told the
Post that Belo had taken refuge for the day at the residence of
Baucau Bishop Basilio dos Nascimento.

Antara quoted East Timor Police chief Col. Timbul Silaen as
saying the prointegration militia were searching for
proindependence political leaders who were hiding.

Police were quick to help evacuate refugees to police
headquarters. There were no reports of arrests following the
arson and shootings.

Most rights activists have also been forced into shelters and
out of the province. Locals said the prointegration militia
continued to roam unchecked, shooting and burning property until
late Monday.

"There are few homes still standing," a resident said. After
taking shelter at a seminary he had gone home only to find his
house destroyed in a fire.

Some locals said they could identify security personnel among
the militia. "There are no clashes here ... prointegration
militias along with security personnel are terrorizing the
people, looting their houses before burning them down," another
refugee said.

At the police dormitory, a refugee said food supplies were
scarce. "Children who are given only water are crying," he said.
The International Red Cross Commission last provided food on
Sunday.

An ICRC spokesperson said armed militias attacked its Dili
headquarters at 11 a.m. There were over 2,000 refugees sheltering
inside the compound.

"The ICRC remains extremely worried regarding the fate of the
resident population," its statement said. "We don't know the
whereabouts of the refugees now. Before the attack we asked
police to guarantee security in the compound, but apparently they
did not do it," spokesperson Sri Endah Wahyuni said.

She said the closest ICRC delegate was in Atambua on the
border with East Nusa Tenggara. "One person is there with
Indonesian Red Cross staff."

"With the ICRC continually receiving calls from throughout the
territory, there seems to be no safe haven, either in the capital
or outside Dili," ICRC's statement said.

From Canberra, Antara reported the Australian Defense Force
sent on Monday morning a Hercules to Dili to evacuate 300 staff
of United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) and Australian
citizens to Darwin, Australia.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the evacuation was
conducted at the request of UNAMET chief Ian Martin.

Reuters reported that Australia's Ambassador to Indonesia John
McCarthy was shot at on Monday while traveling in a car in Dili.
Quoting an "outraged" Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, the news
agency said the envoy was not hurt.

A lack of security is feared for refugees heading for West
Timor, where there is even less protection -- but a refugee holed
up in one Dili shelter said the danger for Dili refugees, who are
also found at the port, was the threat to their lives, given
continued shooting near shelters.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Togar M. Sianipar said
25,000 refugees were sheltering at local police headquarters
awaiting evacuation from the territory.

Togar said at least 75,000 people have fled Dili by land, sea
and air since the result of the Aug. 30 ballot on self-
determination was announced on Saturday.

From Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara, it was reported that almost
22,000 refugees arrived on Monday. Tents were erected near the
military command. An official said settlement would be available
for some 300 refugees.

Charges of the ballot being rigged have led to request for
arms from the military by the South Sulawesi chapter of the
prointegration Forum for Democracy, Peace and Justice.

Guilhermino Lopez, the Forum provincial chairman, told the
Post in Ujungpandang the arms were needed for their militia to be
sent soon to East Timor.

"We asked for arms... we don't want to die just like that.

"We must go because the government is hesitant to defend East
Timor from Portuguese henchmen."

Wirabuana military commander, through his chief of staff Brig.
Gen. M. Husni Thamrin, told the Post, "We understand their
complaints but we cannot give them arms; but we definitely
provide them moral support.." (33/das/anr/yac/edt/rms/27/ylt)