Xanana meets pro-Jakarta militia group in peace bid
Xanana meets pro-Jakarta militia group in peace bid
DILI, East Timor (AP): In an attempt to foster national
reconciliation, East Timor's pro-independence leader Xanana
Gusmao met leaders of the pro-Indonesian militia bands that laid
waste to his country two years ago, UN officials said Wednesday.
The previously unannounced meeting took place Tuesday on the
border between East Timor and the Indonesian-held western half of
the island, UN spokesman Peter Biro said.
About 300 people, most of them militia members, attended the
gathering in the village of Salele, about 100 kilometers (60
miles) southwest of East Timor's capital, Dili.
The rally was the latest in a series of such meetings
organized by Gusmao, who led East Timor's struggle for
independence from Indonesia, to convince militia leaders and
their followers to return and take part in the country's first
elections on Aug. 30.
"The number of participants was unexpected and unprecedented,
but the community wanted to come en masse to talk," said
Nagalingam Parameswaran, a senior UN official who organized the
event.
Gusmao, who is widely expected to become the first president
of the newly independent East Timor, has said that he supports
the idea of giving amnesties to former militiamen.
"Xanana is respected at the highest level by the pro-Jakarta
leaders and he has the ability to bring the community together,"
Parameswaran said.
Indonesia invaded the half-island territory in 1975 after
Portuguese colonial rule collapsed. But Indonesian forces were
never able to suppress a guerrilla movement, which enjoyed wide
support among the population. In the 1990s, the military
recruited a number of armed militia groups to act as auxiliaries
in the war.
When the government in Jakarta agreed in 1997 to allow a UN-
supervised referendum on independence, the paramilitaries were
used to terrorize the population into voting for union with
Indonesia. But the attempt backfired and the ballot resulted in
an overwhelming vote for independence.
The Indonesian military and their proxies responded by killing
hundreds and destroying most of East Timor's infrastructure and
buildings. When international troops arrived in September 1999,
thousands of militiamen fled to West Timor with the withdrawing
Indonesian troops.
Although most refugees have since been repatriated, the United
Nations says about 50,000 people remain in refugee camps in West
Timor. The majority have links with the former Indonesian
administration or militia groups.
The world body is administering East Timor during its
transition to full independence, expected sometime next year.