Violence erupts again in East Timor

DILI, East Timor (JP): At least one person died in another outburst of violence among civilians on Sunday, even as Dili's bishop urged restraint to enable East Timorese vote in peace.

The victim, Eugenio Antonio Fatima, 26, died on the way to the local Motael clinic. He was a student of the University of East Timor. Another man, Jose Agusto L. Pinto, 31, is being treated at the clinic for a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Both were residents of East Dili.

Photographers at the clinic said Eugenio died of gunshot wounds, while Dili Police Chief Col. Timbul Silaen said he died of slash wounds. Timbul also said three were injured, two of whom have been allowed to go home.

He said the clash began when some members of the Dili-based Aitarak prointegration militia were gathering in the Old Mercado market, who were then disturbed by proindependence supporters.

"The Aitarak men were outnumbered," Timbul said, as quoted by Antara, and fled while some were left behind.

Other members then came to the site and the clash broke out.

Timbul said security personnel were forced to fire warning shots.

The proindependence youths were also seen armed with machetes and rocks during the standoff in the afternoon. Witnesses said the shots which injured the two came from prointegration militia around the Old Mercado market, who were chasing youths around a nearby restaurant.

Earlier in the day, foreign journalists were pelted with stones by people carrying handguns at the market. Military and police then closed off the area.

Dili residents face continuing tension, while United Nations representatives are expected to help provide security ahead of an Aug. 8 ballot.

Proindependence supporters were seen burning tires and also trying to block off roads with empty barrels to prevent security personnel from entering. Yells of "Viva Xanana" were among their shouts, referring to jailed proindependence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao.

A number of UN personnel of an advanced team have arrived in the capital to begin preparations for the Aug. 8 ballot.

On Sunday, they joined authorities in Baucau regency, where prointegration members were turning in mostly homemade weapons, following a similar ceremony in Liquica on Saturday.

Authorities have pointed to a lack of similar gestures from the proindependence side to do the same, in line with a April 21 peace pact and May 5 New York agreement on the ballot. Proindependence leaders have said they cannot trust the military and police.

Xanana, president of the National Council for East Timor Resistance, had requested a UN peacekeeping force.

On Sunday morning, Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo began informing his congregation of the planned ballot and the implications of the options.

Antara quoted him as saying at Mass that East Timorese were entering a new phase in which they must prepare to determine their future.

"If the offer of wide-ranging autonomy is accepted, it means we will still live with Indonesians under the unitary state of the republic," Belo said.

"On the other hand, if we reject the offer, East Timor will be returned to the United Nations and Portugal, and we will prepare ourselves to become an independent nation free from the Republic of Indonesia," Belo said.

Wide-ranging autonomy, he said, means East Timorese are given wider authority in handling themselves except in fiscal and monetary matters, international relations and defense.

Observers, officials and residents have said East Timorese have yet to fully understand the options offered to them.

Belo's initiative to inform the public of the ballot came amid the absence of opportunity of equal campaigning by both prointegration and proindependence camps.

While prointegration leaders say they have begun educating their members about the ballot and their preferred choice for autonomy, most proindependence leaders are in hiding after attacks on their homes on April 17, during which 13 died.

Belo added that relevant parties, including UN representatives, would further inform the public of the options.

"We hope that until Aug. 8, all East Timorese maintain security and order to enable the direct ballot to be conducted in peace," he said. "Lay down all arms and let us learn to live in a democracy, in which any result of the public consultation will not result in groups who win or lose," he said.

Prointegration groups and Governor Jose Abilio Osorio Soares have expressed reservations about the ballot, fearing further civil war if one group should lose.

The Church, Belo said, urged that East Timorese consider well their choices and seek the favorable and unfavorable implications of either choice to avoid future regrets.

"Give your voice wisely and in a mature, democratic manner, not on the basis of emotional feelings, revenge and the gray past of civil law," the Bishop said.

"And after the choice is made, no group must feel it has won or lost," he said.

Prointegration leaders have made threats against the UN civilian police and have rejected the ballot. But after the agreement was signed between Indonesia and Portugal at the United Nations, they said they accepted it. (33/anr)