Subject: SMH: Fearful Ramos Horta asks Canberra to
help send thugs home
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1999 15:03:05 EDT
From: Joyo@aol.comSydney Morning Herald 26/08/99
Fearful Ramos Horta asks Canberra to help send thugs home
The arrival in East Timor of Indonesian military-backed thugs threatened disastrous
consequences for Monday's ballot, the resistance leader Mr Jose Ramos Horta said
yesterday.
Mr Ramos Horta called on the Australian Government to pressure Indonesia to withdraw
the hundreds of permudaan youth group "hooligans" who were earlier refused
United Nations observer status.
"I am extremely worried about the violent direction this means. It is an ominous
sign," he said. "These hooligans must be repatriated before the ballot."
Mr Ramos Horta said their presence could frighten tens of thousands of citizens away
from polling stations.
Diplomatic sources say the youths have been associated with unrest in Ambon and Jakarta
and are financed by Indonesian military intelligence.
Mr Ramos Horta told a university-organised workshop on reconciliation and effective
governance in East Timor he would raise the issue with Australian Government officials.
Indonesia must be told there would be severe repercussions, including financial
sanctions, if it was to allow such intrusions into the democratic process. He told the
Canberra workshop that stability had to be maintained in the two-month transition period
after the poll. While East Timor independence supporters had been rebuffed in proposals to
autonomy supporters for a "shadow" executive council of political opponents, he
believed that would change once intimidation from the Indonesian military was removed.
- MARK METHERELL
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