---------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "signoff indonews" need more help?, send your mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with body mail: "info refcard" ---------------------------------------------------------- East Timor capital tense amid prospect of independence (ADDS details) DILI, East Timor, Feb 1 (AFP) - The capital of the troubled territory of East Timor remained tense on Monday in the week after Indonesia's surprise announcement that it might allow independence. With both supporters and opponents of the idea consolidating their plans, about 200 youths staged a rally to press for independence, crisscrossing the streets of capital Dili on trucks yelling slogans. At the stately governor's office, facing the Bay of Dili (Eds: correct), the administrative and military heads of the territory's 13 districts met Jakarta-appointed Governor Jose Osorio Abilio Soares. "The meeting is to obtain explanation from the governor on the government's announcement so that they can provide the correct information to their people in their respective districts," a source at the governor's office said. However, the source said that during the meeting, the governor "underlined that the stress should be laid on the government's expanded autonomy scheme." Jakarta on Wednesday said it may propose that East Timor, annexed by Indonesia 23 years ago, be allowed to secede should a current proposal for a wide-ranging autonomy be rejected by the Timorese people. Soares had hosted weekend talks among pro-autonomy leaders in East Timor. The group Monday agreed to firmly reject Jakarta's announcement last week, the Suara Pembaruan evening daily said quoting sources. It formed a "team for reconciliation and for the socialization of the special status of wide-ranging autonomy for East Timor," that will promote dialogues with pro-independence leaders and try to persuade them that autonomy was the best option, the sources said. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has said independence for East Timor was only "the last option" and that Jakarta would flesh out the autonomy scheme in talks with Portugal held under the auspices of the UN secretary general. Lieutenant Colonel Supadi (Eds: one name), who heads the East Timor military command's general staff affairs department, said the possibility of independence was preoccupying the people in Dili. "Both camps, those for the autonomy and those demanding independence, are now busy preparing their own proposals, plans and positions. They are all consolidating their forces," Supadi told AFP. The protestors, some wearing headbands with "total independence" in Portuguese inscribed on them, went to the local parliament to make calls for a free East Timor, then held a free-speech forum at the Santa Cruz cemetery. Santa Cruz was the scene of the November 12, 1991 "Dili Massacre" when Indonesian soldiers fired into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, killing at least 50, according to official tolls. Other tolls, including from witnesses, spoke of more than 100 deaths. The protestors, who also waved flags of the Fretilin pro-independence movement, then boarded trucks and paraded around Dili in the absence of security forces. A lone military helicopter circled above. The demonstration came after a separatist group, the National Front for the Defenders of Independence of the Timor Leste Nation, circulated leaflets in Dili calling for mass rallies in support of full independence. Meanwhile, the head of the East Timor education and culture office, Andry Sutardi, said his office will soon ask its employees, including school teachers in the territory, whether they wanted to leave or stay should East Timor secede. Officials have said some 250 migrant teachers in East Timor were seeking transfers to other regions saying they feared for their lives in the territory, citing cited terror, intimidation, physical attack and threats. "We hope that the ABRI (Indonesian armed force) headquarters....can provide security guarantees to the teachers and their families," Indonesian Education and Culture Minister Juwono Sudarsono said in Jakarta. On January 26, the Dili state hospital closed down, allowing only a skeleton staff, following attacks on two doctors. Indonesia annexed East Timor in 1976 but the move was never recognized by the United Nations. A pro-independence movement has been active since. str-tn/bs/nj ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 2 Feb 1999 jam 09:51:15 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
