UN flag officially raised in East Timor
DILI, East Timor (JP): The United Nations Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) officially raised the UN flag at its office here on Thursday in a ceremony attended by some 3,000 East Timorese.
The ceremony was also attended by Indonesian ambassador at large on East Timor, Lopez da Cruz, East Timor Governor Jose Abilio Soares, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo and Portuguese envoy to Indonesia Ana Gomes.
Also on hand were Indonesian police and military officials as well as David Ximenes and Leandro Isaac, officials of the proindependence National Resistance Council for East Timor (CNRT).
UNAMET was deployed in East Timor to help monitor preparations of the ballot on Aug. 8 to determine whether the population accepts Jakarta's autonomy offer.
After the ceremony, however, hundreds of proindependence East Timorese youths vandalized official cars used by Soares, Lopez da Cruz and Dili Mayor Mateus Maia.
The three luxurious cars were badly damaged in the incident.
Mateus Maia regretted the incident and blamed UNAMET for it.
"UNAMET should be responsible for the incident and the damages because it failed to maintain security at its headquarters," he said.
He said UNAMET should not have allowed the proindependence youths to enter the headquarters so as to ensure its neutrality.
Spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs' task force, Dino Patti Djalal, said he regretted the incident.
"The incident was against the spirit of the day and we really regret it," Dino told The Jakarta Post by phone from Dili on Thursday.
He said he would send a letter of concern to UNAMET chief Ian Martin.
The incident occurred at 10:30 a.m. when the cars of guests were leaving the UNAMET compound after the opening ceremony, Dino said.
Hundreds of people, he said, were crowding outside the gate, forcing the cars to slow down and some of them started banging the cars.
The crowd, who were mostly the proindependence group, Dino said, smashed the rear windshield of cars belonging to East Timor governor, Mateus Maia and Lopez da Cruz and damaged two others belonging to the police and military officers.
Dino said members of the task force for the Implementation of the Popular Consultation in East Timor had met with prointegration groups the night before the incident together with local security officers.
"In the meeting we made an appeal, especially to the radical ones, not to show up at the UNAMET office the next day because we were concerned about the possible consequences if they met with the proindependence group," he said.
Dino said he believed UNAMET should stand firm in dealing with the incident and that it should maintain its integrity and neutrality.
"I hope this incident will not happen again because the next few months are crucial. I hope all parties would exercise self- restraint and work together to initiate peace," Dino said.
Meanwhile, CNRT which is led by jailed Xanana Gusmao, will soon reopen its offices in East Timor after a two-month closure, says a CNRT official.
"CNRT will soon reopen its offices in all towns and villages across the province to resume its struggle for the province's independence," David Ximenes, CNRT coordinator in Dili, told local and foreign journalists here on Thursday.
CNRT has frozen its activities for two months following an attack by prointegration groups in several regencies, including Dili, on April 17.
Manuela Carrascalao, younger brother of former East Timor governor Mario Carrascalao, lost his son in the incident when his house was badly damaged.
David said that the decision to resume activities was taken after gaining a safety assurance from UNAMET.
"No more violence and terrors are to occur following the UN's official presence in the territory and the East Timorese people are expected to be free in airing their opinions in the next ballot," said David, who blamed the violence on the local military.
The police are slated on Saturday to officially take over authority from the military in overseeing the security. (rms/33/hhr)