Violence erupts again in East Timor

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)