Xanana to be free man on Sept. 15, Muladi says

Xanana to be free man on Sept. 15, Muladi says

JAKARTA (JP): President B.J. Habibie is expected to release
jailed East Timor resistance leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana"
Gusmao on Sept. 15, Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi
announced on Thursday.

Muladi said the President had decided to grant amnesty to
Xanana for his contribution in the search for a comprehensive
solution to problems in East Timor. The release would be made one
week after the final results of the direct vote are announced,
Muladi said in a media briefing after attending a Cabinet meeting
at Bina Graha presidential office.

When asked whether the release schedule has been fully fixed,
the minister said Xanana "is expected to be released on that
day".

The statement came as the United Nations Mission in East Timor
(UNAMET) said in Dili on Thursday it may have to extend the self-
determination vote by one day if polling stations were closed on
Aug. 30 for security reasons.

"If there is an incident on Aug. 30 at a polling center, we
will reopen that center with additional security on the next
day," UNAMET spokesman David Wimhurst said.

Muladi said the President would likely only delay Xanana's
release if the situation in East Timor after the direct ballot
was out of control.

"It will depend on the situation and the conditions. His
release should not endanger himself," Muladi said.

Meanwhile, speaking to journalists before the Cabinet meeting,
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said he still could not
say when Xanana would be released, saying it would depend on the
latest developments in the troubled territory.

"We will just wait and see," he said.

More than 451,000 people have registered to vote on whether
East Timor will remain a part of Indonesia with wide-ranging
autonomy or become an independent state.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that Australian Defense Minister
John Moore said in Canberra on Thursday the country's defense
force was preparing to evacuate Australians from East Timor if
violence broke out after the Aug. 30 ballot.

"I have today ... directed the Australian Defense Force to be
prepared to assist in the evacuation of personnel from East Timor
should that be needed," Moore told parliament.

Also from Canberra, the news agency quoted United States
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Stanley Roth as saying that predictions from Jakarta and the East
Timorese militia that the ballot could end in violence were
inflammatory and should be stopped.

Roth said the United States had delivered this warning to both
the Indonesian government and to militia leaders in the province.

"The United States has been distressed by many predictions of
violence both from the Indonesian government but also from some
of the militia leaders in East Timor," Roth told the National
Press Club in Canberra.

"We have warned of the danger of the self-fulfilling prophecy
-- if you create the expectation that there will be violence
after the referendum, the chances of violence happening are much
greater." (amd/byg/prb)