Subject: AN: Military & police support dialog
Date: Tue, 08 Sep 1998 06:34:33 +0700
From: "Leonardo J. Rimba" <leorimba@rad.net.id>Antara -- Monday,
September 7, 1998
E Timor: MILY, POLICE SUPPORT RECONCILIATION DIALOG
Dili, E Timor - The military and the police have expressed full support for the
reconciliation dialog which Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo and Baucau Bishop
Basilio do Nascimento will hold on Sept 10-11.
"All ranks of the armed forces, including the police, fully support the dialog so
long as it is held for the good of the East Timorese. In tune with the theme of the
dialog, which is "Unity Toward Peace", it is hoped that all participants would
be engaged in the dialog in the spirit of the theme," head of the local military
resort 164/Wira Dharma, Col (Army) Tono Suratmat, said here Monday.
He and chief of the East Timor Police, Col Timbul Silaen, received Belo and members of
the dialog's organizing committee.
Suratmat said the two-day dialog would serve as a historical milestone for the East
Timorese and should thus encourage them to unite.
On the occasion, Belo said the dialog, to be held in Dare Hill, some 5 km south of
here, will be attended by only 50 invited participants living in East Timor, representing
various political and educational backgrounds.
Those living outside East Timor, in Jakarta for example, and those remaining in the
jungles will not be invited, he said, countering the rumor that these people will be
invited to join the dialog.
According to Belo, the dialog participants would sit at the same table and should
accept that there are differences among them.
This way, he said, they will realize the need for reconciliation for the sake of peace
and welfare for the people of East Timor.
He also said that the participants will discuss the opinion of the province's Catholic
Church, to be presented on the first day.
The church, in its opinion, will convey the ideas voiced by East Timorese groups during
their dialogs with the two bishops last July and August, he said.
He added that the final statement to be made after the dialog will not contain any
practical political solution to the East Timor question because the most important thing
would be to ensure that the East Timorese would live in peace and unity and would no
longer resort to rioting and demonstrations.
Back to September Menu
Back to Main Postings Menu |
