Subject: AFP - New group protests to demand
resignation of East Timor governor
Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 11:29:09 +0100
From: "Paula Carvalho Pinto" <paularoque@mail.telepac.pt> A. FRANCE
PRESS New group protests to demand resignation of East Timor governor (RECASTS)
JAKARTA, Oct 13 (AFP) - Hundreds of protestors Tuesday took to the streets of Dili in
the troubled territory of East Timor to press for the resignation of the Jakarta-appointed
governor, residents said. For the third straight day demonstrators demanded the
resignation of Jose Osorio Abilio Soares who was appointed governor of the former
Portuguese territory in 1993, residents said. The "Pro-integration and pro-reform
East Timorese" were the latest group to protest against Soares.
Tens of thousands of East Timorese took to the streets of Dili Sunday and Monday,
demanding that Soares step down for threatening to fire civil servants unless they endorse
an Indonesian proposal of autonomy for the territory. Witnesses said the territory's
15,000 civil servants, who had led a "silent" stay-at-home strike on Saturday,
failed to turn up for work Monday except in essential services such as hospitals and
telephone switchboards. Buses stopped running, shops downed shutters and schools were
closed, but no violence was reported, the witnesses told AFP late Monday from Dili.
The protestors on Tuesday accused Soares of having diverted state funds and of
recruiting his cronies for high governmental positions. They also charged that Soares'
statements had created negative sentiment among East Timorese towards the government and
the armed forces. "The protestors gave Abilio 15 days to resign, if not they
threatened to hold a bigger demonstration," one resident said, adding that daily
activities in Dili had otherwise returned to normal.
Shouting "Abilio the thief" and "Abilio a dog" the protestors
marched through town, They kept away from the governor's office which was guarded by
police and sealed off with barbed wire. The rally ended peacefully after more than three
hours. East Timorese Bishop Carlos Belo has said that he had "no objections" to
the mass protests, the state news agency Antara reported Tuesday. But Antara quoted the
1996 Nobel laureate as cautioning the demonstrators to keep the protests peaceful and not
to "ruin economic activities" in the territory invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and
annexed the following year. "That is why under these circumstances, social figures
should wisely and immediately respond to the people's aspirations and study them for a
better life," Antara quoted Belo as saying.
Since 1983 the issue of East Timor's independence has been discussed with the
Indonesian and Portuguese governments under the auspices of the United Nations. The two
parties are currently discussing Jakarta's autonomy offer. Jailed East Timorese resistance
leader Xanana Gusmao has said it would only be acceptable as a transitional step towards a
referendum on self-determination. pyp/bs/sm
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