Portugal accepts East Timor plan

JAKARTA (JP): Portugal accepted on Friday Indonesia's autonomy package for East Timor, paving the way for a historic ballot in the troubled province before the end of August, Antara reported from United Nations headquarters in New York.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the two countries would sign the deal on May 5, because the Indonesian government needed more time to approve two new documents which will be part of the agreement. The documents, introduced by Portugal, concern the conducting of the ballot and security arrangements.

"I am pleased to inform you that after a very productive and successful round of meetings ... we have an agreement," Annan said after closing the two-day UN sponsored ministerial meeting between Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama.

According to AP, Alatas said there were no "sticking points" and expressed hope the two new proposals will not pose any problems for Indonesia.

President B.J. Habibie has said he plans to hold a direct vote on the autonomy plan in July to enable the 800,000 East Timorese to choose whether they want to remain part of Indonesia or become an independent state.

Alatas said he hoped the ballot could be held before the end of August.

Alatas said UN civilian police could probably form part of the UN contingent to be sent to East Timor to organize the vote, but added that Indonesian military and police would play the major important role of ensuring peace and order in the province.

He again ruled out the possibility of the deployment of foreign troops on a peacekeeping mission there.

UN representative to East Timor Jamsheed Marker, who attended the talks, told reporters he did not consider a peacekeeping force "necessary" at this time.

"We have taken the word of the Indonesian government that peaceful conditions will prevail," he said.

The international community, including Australia and Japan, warmly welcomed the agreement. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer called it an important step toward "the realization of a peaceful and democratic transition for East Timor".

Downer is to accompany Prime Minister John Howard during a meeting with President B.J. Habibie in Bali on Tuesday.

"The agreement was a big step forward toward settling the matter over East Timor peacefully," the Japanese foreign ministry said in a statement, as quoted by Reuters.

In East Timor's capital of Dili, both prointegration and proindependence groups were calm about the developments in New York.

"The result is good, but we are very disappointed over the delay (in the signing) ... we need it to stop killings that still continue here," said David Ximenes, spokesman for proindependence group the National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT).

The council is chaired by jailed rebel Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao.

"(The delay) of the signing of the agreement ... could worsen conflict between pro and anti-integration groups," said the spokesman for the prointegration Democratic Forum for Justice and Peace, Florencio Viera.

Abduction

In East Timor, 30 residents of Covalima regency were abducted last Saturday, director of a Dili legal aid office said. Two of them are believed to have been killed, lawyer Aniceto Guterres Lopes of the Hak Foundation told The Jakarta Post.

Quoting local sources, abductions by prointegration groups in the regency followed the daylight shootings in Suai town, about 200 kilometers southwest of Dili.

Men identified as prointegration members reportedly have entered residents' homes in the middle of the night and kidnap people on their list of suspected independence supporters.

Last Saturday and Sunday, 14 people were killed in a number of violent incidents in Dili.

Covalima residents declined to talk to the media by phone, saying they suspected the lines were tapped, while roads to the area were blocked by several militia check posts.

On Saturday, authorities still maintained the area was safe and that nothing was amiss.

However, "Despite the Wednesday peace pledge, terror, intimidation and abductions are still going on in Covalima," Aniceto said.

He added that as of Saturday, house searches were still going on, such as in Maskarinas, West Dili. The targets were people from Maubara and Liquica town in Liquica regency, where a massacre took place early April, killing at least 25, according to one estimate.

Dili Police chief Col. Timbul Silaen said on Saturday he had ordered a stop to all law violations, but said time was needed to enforce the peace pact down to the village and farm levels.

Meanwhile, relief organizations reported continued threats on them, preventing them from reaching Liquica and other areas in dire need of food and medical supplies. In addition, government health services have dropped dramatically following the exodus of many non-East Timorese health workers, citing terror caused by proindependence groups.

Gregorius M. Fernandez of the United Nations Children's Fund based in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, which is to open a liaison office in Dili, said international organizations had checked medical supplies at Dili warehouses.

East Timor bishops have requested international aid to anticipate medical and food supply shortages, he said, and the organizations were searching for ways in which they could help.

"There are enough supplies until June," he told the Post on Saturday after accompanying representatives of the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Program. (33/anr)