[Poster's note: International and other articles already sent out to the east-timor list (info@etan.org) have been removed from below.]

UNMIT Daily Media Review Wednesday, 29 November 2006

THE UN INTEGRATED MISSION IN TIMOR-LESTE DOES NOT VOUCH FOR THE ACCURACY OF THESE REPORTS

National Media Reports

Xanana: Stop Fighting Against Each Other; We All Need to Cultivate Peace

During his speech at the ceremony of the commemoration of Timor-Leste's 31st anniversary of independence on Tuesday, President Xanana Gusmao stated that Timor-Leste appeared to be a country without law and order any more, and it should not continue to be so. He appealed to the people to stop fighting against each other, and to start cultivating peace in Timor-Leste. President Gusmao welcomed the statements made by the martial arts groups, which tried to stop violence, as a positive step to assist the nation to live with peace and love for all people.

According to the President, he had asked the Government to accelerate the vetting process of PNTL officers, so that they would resume their work in assisting the international police forces. In addition, the President said the Government should consider involving F-FDTL in the process of preventing people from fighting and killing each other. (DN, STL)

Lu-Olo: Paying Tribute to the Resistance Fighters is a Big Pride for Timor-Leste

President of the National Parliament, Francisco Guterres "Lu-Olo" stated that the celebration of Timor-Leste's independence for this year was a very proud moment for all Timorese because during the occasion the State managed to officially pay tribute to the citizens who contributed to the struggle for independence of Timor-Leste. Meanwhile, the former President of Fretilin, Francisco Xavier do Amaral, one of the prominent leaders being recognised for his contribution to the fight for independence, welcomed the tribute by saying that even though it was late, it was good that the State started thinking of doing so. 'The tribute is a commitment to those of us who are still alive to carry on the aspirations of those who have passed away [in fulfilling the independence]." (DN)

Hasegawa Becomes Witness to Lobato's Case

Paulo Remedios, the defense lawyer for former Minister of Interior, Rogerio Lobato was quoted as saying that former SRSG Sukehiro Hasegawa has been named to be part of the list of 35 witnesses to testify for Lobato's case. The list also included the name of former DSRSG Anis Bajwa. The list was sent to the court last week. (Timor Post)

Paulo Martins and Lere were shocked to see the picture of Alfredo with the Bazooka

Speaking to the journalists, both Paulo and Lere said that neither F-FDTL nor PNTL have weapons like bazookas. Lere said that 'I am not aware of such kind of weapons. If F-FDTL had them, I would have already been familiar with that". In fact, there were no such weapons in the F-FDTL institution. But questioned on the plan of F-FDTL commandos to hold a dialogue with Major Alfredo, Colonel Lere said that they were negotiating and he was not sure when it would materialise. He said that Major Alfredo should not consider himself as an active military person since he had deserted the military headquarter. He said 'if we are military, we should behave as real military, but now he [ Major Alfredo] has escaped from headquarters and still considers himself as active military". He is no longer active military, stressed Colonel Lere. Major Alfredo should pay attention to the military regulations, stressed Colonel Lere.

In addition, PM Ramos-Horta said that no East Timorese were entitled to hold any illegal weapons which means that the ones held by Major Alfredo and his inmates are illegal ones. Therefore PM Horta, on behalf of the government, urged Major Alfredo and his members to surrender the weapons to the International Forces. PM Horta added that "Alfredo should not talk on R3 (Resolve the Problem, Restructure, and Revolution) but he should talk on PJT (Prosecutor, Justice and Tribunal) because it was not the right time for him to seek any humility for himself, but he should deal with the prosecutor general. The case of Major Alfredo was more complicated than the case of Major Tara and Marco, and Petitioners, PM Ramos-Horta said.

However, Diario National, states that PM Ramos-Horta was quoted as saying that International Forces did not capture Major Alfredo at the Suai-two-day seminar because they wanted to avoid bloodshed in Timor-Leste. Mr. Horta then declared that Major Alfredo was considered by the second constitutional government as a criminal and in fact this government had issued a capture-warning for Major Alfredo, but it was found that the event in Suai was not the right place to capture him. On the contrary, Major Alfredo said that nobody could disarm him. At an interview with STL, Major Alfredo said that 'I will not hand over my weapons to either Xanana, Ramos Horta, or to anybody. No one has the right to disarm me". (DN, TP, STL)

Commemoration of Independence Day, 28 November: the Organs of State Sovereign held Conferment and medal bestowal to ex-combatants

Francisco Xavier do Amaral was officially considered as proclaiming the Independence of East Timor at the commemoration ceremony of the 31st Independence Day. The recognition was directly delivered by President Xanana. The President then took the occasion to appeal to all Timorese to quickly put an end the violence and promote peace. 265 recipients were symbolically bestowed with the medal and emblem from the sovereign bodies, and some special guests. After the ceremony, two women, Beloran and Madalena protested to the Organizing Committee for not including their names on the list, but the president of the organizing committee, Virgilio Smith, explained to them that the ceremony was merely a symbolic one and convinced both women to calm down and wait for the next event as there will be a similar ones scheduled for December 2006, March and May 2007. (STL, TP, DN)

Xanana asks F-FDTL and PNTL to participate in ending violence

President Xanana Gusmao has asked the Government to reactivate PNTL and asked the participation of F-FDTL to end the violence and killings in the country. He added that PNTL must return to the field in order to help the International Forces to stop rock throwing and killings. The President also appealed to all the crime actors to stop violence and said that those who choose violence must be arrested. Mr. Xanana has also expressed his regret on the political and security crisis that the nation confronts today. On the same occasion the President of Republic expressed publicly his support to all the statements of Prime Minister Dr. Ramos-Horta condemning the criminal attitude of some people and the members of martial arts who turned the noble idea of Martial arts into criminal and violence which has sacrificed a lot of lives, most of whom belong to the young and the poor. The President also expressed appreciation for the effort of all the martial arts groups who gathered last Friday to state their commitment to end violence in the country. (STL, TP and DN)

International Media Reports

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