Subject: LUSA: Gusmao appeals for calm and tolerance
From: "Sharon R.A. Scharfe" <pet@web.net>01 FEV 99 - 07:29 East Timor:
Gusmao appeals for calm and tolerance
Jakarta, Febr 01 (Lusa) - East Timor's jailed guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao has
appealed for an end to all violence in his occupied homeland. The appeal was made through
a taped message in Tetum released in Jakarta on Sunday. Tetumm is East Timor's indigenous
lingua franca. Gusmao urged his countrymen to all feelings of hatred and revenge. The
message is planned to be broadcast by Portugal's international radio station
RDP-Internacional.
Antonio Goncalves, Gusmao's lawyer, translated part of the message into the Portuguese
language at the request of Portuguese journalists waiting outside the Cipinang Prison on
the outskirts of Jakarta on Sunday. In the message, Gusmao appealed for calm and
forgiveness among his compatriots. Goncalves said the Indonesian authorities were planning
to move Gusmao from prison to house arrest in the near future, adding he would discuss the
matter with his client on Tuesday. The Indonesian government reportedly plans to grant
Gusmao house arrest in Jakarta or in Bandung, a city some 200 kilometres southeast of the
Indonesian capital. Gusmao, 53, was detained by the Indonesian military on November 20,
1992. He is now serving a 20-year jail sentence. Meanwhile, Gusmao has asked the
international community to pressurise Indonesia into disarming civilian militias in East
Timor. Gusmao's appeal was transmitted by Maria Pakpahan, a member of the Solidarity for
Peace in East Timor (Solidamor) movement, in Jakarta on Sunday.
According to Pakpahan, Gusmao also urged the people of East Timor to "create an
atmosphere of tolerance" in their homeland that has been under Indonesian occupation
since 1975. Pakphahan made the annoucement outside the Cipinang Prison after Gusmao had
met several dozen East Timorese and Indonesians on Sunday morning. Indonesian press
reports, including the respected Jakarta Post, said on Sunday that tension in East Timor
was on the rise, namely because of armed pro-Indonesian militias spreading fear among the
civil population. In a related development, prominent Indonesian opposition leader Sri
Bintang Pamungkas demanded in Jakarta on Sunday Gusmao's immediate release from prison.
The president of the Democratic Unity Party of Indonesia told Portuguese journalists
outside the Cipinang Prison that East Timor could gain independence after elections in
Indonesia in June. Pamungkas said Gusmao should take part in negotations with the
Indonesian government about total independence for East Timor.
Roman Catholic Bishop Dom Ximenes Belo was quoted as saying by The Indonesian Observer
on Saturday he was against immediate independence for East Timor because the territory was
not yet ready for it. The newspaper published in Jakarta also quoted Belo, who is the
apostolic administrator of Dili, as saying that immediate independence would necessarily
lead to financial difficulties. The Nobel Peace Prize co-laureate reportedly told the
newspaper that he preferred a special enlarged autonomy status to independence for East
Timor. The English-language newspaper also said that according to Belo Jakarta's latest
offer of independence was "not a good solution" to the problem of East Timor.
Lusa/Fim
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