Xanana pays visit on independence fighters
JAKARTA (JP): Independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao wept openly on Sunday as the East Timorese guerrillas who struggled for over two decades against Indonesian rule welcomed him home with celebrations and tears of their own.
Children in traditional Timorese dress sang and scattered flower petals as Xanana arrived by helicopter at the headquarters of East Timor's Falintil guerrillas high in the mountains above the capital Dili.
"Our war is not finished," Xanana said in a speech to hundreds of armed guerrillas lined up under a baking sun, Reuters reported.
"Our people are hungry, our people are crying, our people are dying. We must wage war not with guns but to care for our land and look after our people," he said in East Timor's Tetun language, his voice cracking with emotion.
Seasoned guerrillas in camouflage uniforms, with unruly hair and automatic rifles, veterans of years of warfare in the jungle, wept openly as Xanana embraced them.
Widows who lost husbands in the war sobbed and clung to him. Xanana whispered to them and wiped tears from their eyes. Women huddled round him, singing a Timorese freedom anthem. He clasped their hands, sang with them, and wept with them.
Xanana set his feet on his homeland for the first time on Friday after seven years. He was arrested by the Indonesian Military in 1992 and was sentenced for life on subversion charges. The Indonesian government released him last month after East Timorese voted against a wide-ranging autonomy offer on Aug. 30.
Earlier on Saturday, Xanana gave a positive response to Indonesia's offer of a reconciliation meeting between two pro and anti-independence factions in East Timor. But he set a condition for the return of anti-independence militias into the strife- struck territory.
Taufik R. Soedarbo, chairman of the Post-ballot Task Force in East Timor (P4TT), said the Indonesian government had offered to facilitate a reconciliation meeting between the two conflicting groups, which Xanana welcomed.
"Xanana has given a positive response to the offer and said such facilities will be helpful to creating peace in the troubled territory," Antara quoted him as saying after a closed-door meeting with Xanana in Dili.
Also attending the meeting were National Council for East Timor Resistance (CNRT) coordinator Leandro Isaac, Ian Martin, who chairs the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), and Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, chief of the Australian-led International Force for East Timor (Interfet).
Soedarbo declined to say when and where the reconciliation meeting would take place.
Xanana said in a media conference on the same day that he would allow prointegration militias, who have been accused of rampaging through the territory after the Aug. 30 ballot, to return to East Timor only if they apologized to the East Timorese.
"They are allowed to come back home but they must make an apology to the people for all damages caused by their brutality after the ballot," he said.
Xanana, who chairs the East Timor Transition Commission, reiterated that East Timor was seeking support from the World Bank, Japan, Australia and Indonesia to make preparations for the territory's independence.
He said he would also need cooperation from Indonesia, especially during the transition period, on at least three matters -- the status of prointegration militiamen, repatriation of East Timorese refugees and Indonesian assets in the territory.
Abel Guterres, a CNRT executive, said about US$100 million would be needed to build infrastructure and to repair facilities damaged during the post-ballot violence.
He said donor countries were scheduled to meet in Washington in December to discuss financial aid for East Timor. (rms)