Restrained expressions follow result announcement

Restrained expressions follow result announcement

DILI, East Timor (JP): Cries of "Viva!" greeted the
announcement of the results of the Aug. 30 ballot here on
Saturday morning, while tears were shed for the thousands of
relatives who did not live to see the day.

Following the announcement by chief of the United Nations
Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) Ian Martin, prayers were said at
the Dili Seminary. But that about capped the celebrations -- Dili
was a ghost town throughout the day. The silence was broken only
by gunshots from men roaming freely through the streets.

The armed men in civilian clothing were believed to be members
of prointegration militia who were disappointed with the results,
in which 94,388 voted for autonomy and 344,580 rejected it.

The police headquarters was inundated by people wanting to
flee the province shortly after the announcement.

UN staff and journalists also prepared to leave. One UNAMET
civilian police officer was shot in the abdomen on Saturday in
Liquica regency, some 40 kilometers west of the provincial
capital.

"I can not say that he was shot by the militia, but definitely
an American civilian police has been shot and wounded ... we now
have a helicopter on the way there to evacuate him," a UNAMET
staff told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. The unidentified victim
told CNN that he was shot "by a military rifle".

More than 120 UN staff were evacuated from four towns.

Dili-based Aitarak militia leader Eurico Guterres also left
from the Comoro airport, saying he had to take care of his
family. "I am leaving for Jakarta but I will be back tomorrow,"
he said as quoted by AFP.

On Saturday afternoon, police helped to evacuate some 15,000
people coming from various shelters in town including the police
headquarters itself. They were transported to Atambua, over the
border in East Nusa Tenggara. Others have fled into the hills.

From Surabaya, Antara reported at least four warships from the
eastern fleet were standing by in the East Java capital while one
had departed on Friday for Dili to transport refugees.

Indonesian police and soldiers were seen in Dili watching
civilians firing shots around town. The UNAMET headquarters and
the main Mahkota Hotel were tightly guarded by security
personnel, apart from banks, state PT Telkom telecommunications
firm, and the PLN electricity company.

Prointegration militia attacked the Mahkota, which was housing
many UN staff and journalists, despite a strong cordon of
Indonesian troops stationed outside, a witness said.

A hotel staff member told the Post that the attack started
about noon when two men pelted the front window after being
barred from entering the hotel by security guards.

About three hours later, four men approached the hotel. One
fired at the lobby and rooftop, where several TV satellite dishes
are located, while the others smashed the windows with stones.

Later the militiamen broke through the cordon with a motorbike
and charged through the lobby as journalists fled. One waved a
sword and smashed a window, the witness said. No one was injured.

"We were to lay on the floor ... None of us dared to go out,"
the source said late Saturday. SCTV said later that a number of
armed men were questioned by police.

In the tense situation residents' expressions of either joy or
disappointment were confided separately to journalists.

"We could have stayed if (the winning choice) was autonomy," a
departing family told AFP.

"I'm so happy," the news agency quoted a tearful hotel
employee as saying.

A trader at the Mercado market told the Post, "I'm only a
vendor but I'm happy that East Timor will be a nation. Every day
we've been chased around by militias, our lives have been
increasingly insecure."

Celebrations were more evident among East Timorese in exiles
as they danced, cried and shouted in joy on the streets of
Lisbon, Sydney and Canberra among other places, reports said.

"We miss home but we're not sure how to go back," a reveler
told Antara in Lisbon, citing the insecurity.

In Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, 1,808 refugees disembarked at
the port on Friday night, including eight pregnant women. Another
woman had given birth on the KM Awu ship. Looking exhausted and
frightened, the migrants and East Timorese natives carried
mattresses, stoves, chairs, clothes and other household goods.
Some said they had relatives in Ujungpandang. Others had only
heard that shelters in the province such as in Buton were safe.

At least 15,000 refugees had arrived in East Nusa Tenggara in
the past few weeks, and many more were expected. They headed
toward Belu, North Central Timor, South Central Timor, Kupang,
Alor and East Flores.

Thousands have already fled East Timor, particularly migrants.
(33/anr/yac/27/byg/gis)