UNAMET set to announce results today
JAKARTA (JP): As the situation in East Timor continued to deteriorate, officials said the announcement of the results of Monday's historic autonomy ballot would be moved up to Saturday morning.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, after an emergency meeting with President B.J. Habibie on Friday evening, confirmed the accelerated schedule, saying the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) was expected to finish the ballot count on Friday night.
He said the announcement of the ballot results would likely be moved forward by three days to avoid possible leaks.
Simultaneous announcements will be made in the East Timor provincial capital of Dili and UN headquarters in New York.
"If the results are not immediately announced they could be leaked. So it is better if they are announced tomorrow (Saturday)," Alatas said.
He said leaks could come from various sources, including the numerous observers present at the ballot counting center in Dili.
East Timorese went to the polls on Aug. 30 to decide whether to accept or reject an offer of wide-ranging autonomy within Indonesia.
Habibie said in January if the East Timorese rejected the offer, he would ask the People's Consultative Assembly to annul a 1978 decree which legally integrated the former Portuguese colony into Indonesia.
An official in Dili at the Indonesian Task Force for the Implementation of the Popular Consultation on East Timor (P3TT) revealed that the result would be announced Saturday at 9 a.m.
Preparations
In Friday's emergency meeting here in Jakarta Habibie also summoned Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi and National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi.
Immediately following the meeting preparations for the announcement began, suggesting that top officials may already know the outcome of the ballot.
State-owned TVRI taped a speech by Habibie late Friday, which would be aired as the government's official reaction following the expected announcement of the ballot results.
However, Alatas maintained that no information on the outcome of the ballot had yet been disclosed.
Alatas also said the government remained committed to accepting the results of the ballot, whatever they were.
He also quoted Wiranto as saying the military and the police would continue to maintain peace and order during any transitional period in the territory.
Nevertheless, Alatas said the legitimate procedure following the ballot was for the Assembly to have the final say on the issue, because it was this body which legislated the integration of East Timor.
The Assembly will hold its next session in November.
Wiranto earlier on Friday asserted his commitment to respecting the results of the ballot: "The results must be accepted as the best option."
Proautonomy supporters in East Timor seemed to be taking a less conciliatory stance.
Jose Abilio Soares, the Jakarta-appointed governor of East Timor, said the proautonomy camp would not accept UNAMET's decision regardless of the result.
"We will reject the vote if we lose it. We will still protest if we win it," Abilio said on ANteve on Friday. "We're ready to face the consequences (of our rejection)."
He claimed UNAMET was not impartial and the ballot was rigged, pointing to the predominance of proindependence East Timorese hired as local staff by the UN mission.
Rampage
Meanwhile, militias continued to roam through several towns in East Timor.
Two local UNAMET staff members were killed and 20 houses razed in the town of Maliana, 138 kilometers west of Dili.
East Timor police spokesman Capt. Widodo DS identified the two dead as Domingos Soares Pereira, 36, and Robin Barros, 24. Both worked as drivers.
UNAMET's 40 international staff and 14 local staff in Maliana were evacuated under police escort to Dili on Friday. However, five local staff members are reported missing.
"The five other staff are apparently missing; unaccounted for. But they could just be in hiding. After last night's incident, many of our staff sought refuge in the local police station," a UN source told The Jakarta Post by phone.
A resident in Maliana told the Post that the situation was still tense on Friday evening, particularly in the southern and eastern areas. "People have fled to villages in the mountains," he said.
From Sydney, AFP reported that Australian Prime Minister John Howard phoned Habibie to warn him of serious consequences if any Australians become casualties of the escalating violence.
"I particularly expressed concern about the safety of the Australian police and the other Australians who are in East Timor, and how damaging it would be to our relationship if any harm were to come to them," Howard said. (05/06/33/das/emb/prb)