Two killed during attack in East Timor
DILI, East Timor (JP): Two members of a proreferendum group were killed on Sunday in an attack on a sentry post manned by armed civilian guards in Ainaro regency.
Antara identified the victims as Julio of Maulo village and Renaldo of Suro village. Ainaro is 250 kilometers south of Dili.
Col. Tono Suratman, chief of the East Timor Military District, said the attack was launched by the group with assistance from the Falintil separatist group, which has been waging a guerrilla war from the forests.
He said the post was established by locals terrorized and intimidated by anti-Indonesia groups in the regency.
Tono said the incident occurred at midday when about 100 people armed with knives, spears and arrows attacked the post and tried to disarm the post guards.
The guards fired warning shots, but the attackers persisted. He said the guards had no alternative but to open fire.
Tono regretted the incident because it occurred shortly after Christmas. Most East Timorese are Catholic.
Blunder
Separately, Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo warned the Armed Forces (ABRI) here on Monday not to repeat the blunder made by Portugal when it abandoned East Timor 24 years ago, leaving locals armed to fight each other in a civil war.
In a gathering with local military officers, including Tono, Belo referred to the planned establishment of a civilian militia to secure the June 7 general election.
"The war traumatized many people and it is felt even now," he said.
Belo stated ABRI would need to "properly" supervise the militia and provide "proportional" training if the plan was realized.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians -- estimates range from 100,000 to 500,000 -- were reportedly killed during the civil war that raged for decades in the territory. It integrated into Indonesia in 1976.
Belo urged ABRI to stay neutral in any societal disputes that broke out in the province, whether they involved proindependence or prointegration groups.
"I hope that as we enter 1999, both ABRI chiefs and all its rank and file do not side with one particular group in disputes, including those who are proindependence and those who are proautonomy.
"By so doing, ABRI hopefully will be neutral and embrace all groups in the society and so be loved by the East Timorese people," said the Nobel Peace laureate.
He also demanded that ABRI always uphold the law, which would reduce human rights violations.
He cited cases where the military ignored intergroup fights in society, especially in rural areas.
Belo reiterated that political solutions were needed for the problems in the troubled territory and that he, backed by the Vatican, supported the talks sponsored by the United Nations. (33/rms/aan)