Pro-RI forces reject UN police

Pro-RI forces reject UN police

JAKARTA (JP): Pro-Indonesian militia leader Jose Estavao
Soares told an Australian radio station on Thursday all
prointegration groups opposed a United Nations presence during
August's ballot in East Timor, warning of a danger to the safety
of the UN members.

"We will never accept any kind of peace force," Soares told
ABC radio on Thursday.

"Maybe some kind of team to assist us but don't try to come
here with weapons or anything because we will not be responsible
then," he said as quoted by AFP.

Other civilian militia groups have expressed similar threats
against the planned UN presence.

President B.J. Habibie told Australian Prime Minister John
Howard in Bali on Tuesday his government accepted the presence of
UN police officers to help ensure security in East Timor during
the direct ballot in August.

In the vote, tentatively set for Aug. 8, East Timor's 800,000
residents will decide whether they want to remain Indonesia's
27th province with wide-ranging autonomy or become an independent
state.

Howard told Habibie Australia "would be sympathetic" to any UN
request for support of the UN agreement.

"You can't ever say to anybody, in all honesty, who is being
sent to a trouble spot, be that person a police officer or a
soldier, you can't ever say there's no danger," Howard said in a
radio interview broadcast in Sydney.

British Junior Foreign Office Minister Derek Fatchett, who
visited Dili on Wednesday, said UN personnel would be the
international community's "eyes and ears" in East Timor.

Indonesia is facing mounting pressure from the international
community to accept a large international presence during the
ballot due to its failure to control pro-Indonesian militia
groups.

There are a number of armed militia groups in East Timor. They
are Halilintar (Thunder), Alfa, Ablai, Ahi, Besi Merah Putih (Red
and White Iron) and Aitarak.

Meanwhile, proindependence activist Manuel Carrascalao left
the East Timor capital of Dili for Jakarta on Thursday. He said
he would probably seek temporary asylum in Australia, citing
fears for his family's safety.

"I don't feel too good about my security there (East Timor)
and if the situation dictates it, I will seek temporary asylum in
Australia until I can return when the situation is more secure,"
Carrascalao told AFP.

His 18-year-old son Mario was among 20 people killed on April
17 when armed pro-Indonesian militiamen rampaged unchecked
through Dili.

Carrascalao had been staying at the provincial police
headquarters before his departure to Jakarta. Despite the death
of his son and other relatives, Carrascalao signed last week a
peace agreement between proindependence and prointegration groups
in a ceremony also attended by Minister of Defense and Security/
Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto.

His brother, Mario Carrascalao, fled to Portugal after
reportedly receiving death threats from prointegration groups.
Mario, East Timor governor from 1982 to 1992, arrived in Lisbon
on Wednesday with his family.

Mario said he had decided to resign his position on the
Supreme Advisory Council (DPA).

"I had already drafted my resignation about a month ago, but I
was asked not to submit it," he said, but did not identify the
person who advised him against resigning.

East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares criticized
Mario, saying the latter should help settle the crisis in the
country rather than fleeing abroad.

"It is his right, but as a community leader Pak Mario is
expected to remain here and (help) solve East Timor's problem,"
Antara quoted the governor as saying.

Portugal's special envoy to Indonesia said on Thursday East
Timor was in the grip of a panic and the situation could worsen
in coming weeks.

Speaking to Portuguese journalists after visiting Dili, Ana
Gomes said the violence and sense of insecurity in the province
had increased since her visit to the former Portuguese colony a
month ago.

"There is generalized panic at the moment," she told
Portugal's TSF radio before returning to Jakarta at the end of
her two-day visit.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International said a group calling itself
Red Blood Commando threatened proindependence supporters in a
statement circulated in Dili.

Reuters quoted church sources in Dili as saying on Thursday
they had seen a version of the statement but did not know who the
group was.

"After the passing of the deadline, we will conclude that
everyone left in Dili, be they man or woman, old or young, child
or adult, is an antiintegrationist who should and must be
exterminated and wiped out," the statement said.

Proindependence sources said many of their leaders had gone
into hiding or were in protective custody. (prb/yac)