Subject: RT: Several thousand pro-JKT Timorese rally
for war
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 09:49:29 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo:
April 10, 3:08 a.m. ET
Thousands of pro-Jakarta Timorese rally for war
VIQUEQUE, East Timor, April 10 (Reuters) - Thousands of pro-Indonesia East Timorese
rallied on Saturday in a show of force following a call to arms by pro-independence
guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao.
Armed mainly with spears, machetes and home-made guns, some 2,500 militiamen from all
over the former Portuguese colony gathered in the morning in Viqueque, some 90 km (56
miles) east of Dili. About 1,500 people looked on, a Reuters cameraman said.
It is the second such rally since Gusmao called for a popular insurrection against
Indonesian forces in East Timor on Monday, which pro-Jakarta militias deemed as an offer
of war.
On Wednesday Gusmao denied he had declared war on Indonesia, explaining that he
expected the resistance fighters to help people for defence purposes. Jakarta on Friday
threatened to put Gusmao back in jail unless he retracted the call to arms within a week.
In a traditional ceremony, the militiamen sacrificed a dog and four people drank its
blood as representatives of the militias. They vowed that they were ready for possible
fresh clashes with pro-independence groups.
A third rally is planned for Sunday.
Violence in the territory has escalated since Jakarta in January reversed 23 years of
staunch opposition to independence. Last month Indonesia and Portugal agreed to allow the
East Timorese to determine their future through a direct ballot, scheduled for July.
But U.N. mediator Jamsheed Marker said late on Friday that recent violence threatens
that ballot.
On Sunday the territory's spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo is due to hold a mass in
Liquisa, 30 km (19 miles) west of Dili, where he said 25 people died in a massacre on
Tuesday.
The massacre has been blamed on pro-Jakarta forces. Other estimates placed the death
toll at anything from five to 57.
Back to April Menu
Human Rights Violations in East Timor
Main Postings Menu
June '98 through February '99 |
