---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Political factions start East Timor vote campaign with peace pledge DILI, East Timor, Aug 14 (AFP) - The first day of campaigning for a landmark vote on East Timor's future closed here Saturday with activists on both sides vowing to work for a peaceful campaign. Representatives of the pro-independence and pro-autonomy factions attended a ceremony at the headquarters of the poll organizers, the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), late on Saturday to launch the campaign officially. The ceremony was also attended by UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker and diplomats from Indonesia and Portugal. "We have committed ourselves to respecting the political rights of everybody and to respect the results of the consultation," said Leandro Isaac, speaking for the pro-independence National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT). Another CNRT speaker, Agio Pereira, said the independence campaign would respect the programs of its opponents and would avoid overlapping events. "When the result is known there won't be heroes or traitors. There will only be citizens of East Timor who have embraced the outcome ... to guarantee peace and security," he said. Speaking for the pro-autonomy side, Domingos Soares of the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice (FPDK) said Saturday's joint opening was the results of talks aimed at "avoiding any conflict or any troubles between the parties". Salvador Ximenes, of the pro-autonomy Front of the People of East Timor (BRTT), said the leaders of the opposing sides had worked well together. "It seems that problems have only occurred at the grassroots level. Therefore we feel that as leaders of both parties it is our responsibility to ensure that the popular consultation proceed in peace and stability for the benefit of all people," said Ximenes. "The future of East Timor is in your hands, is in your hearts," said Marker, personal representative of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. Marker arrived here earlier Saturday after two days of talks in Jakarta with senior officials from Indonesia and Portugal to discuss the ballot process and the post-ballot period. "The only preference that the United Nations has, if you like, is for peace. Where that is concerned, where peace is concerned, the United Nations is not neutral," he said. The pro-autonomy camp began their campaign by holding a rally at a sports field near Dili's Comoro airport, with six campaigners addressing a crowd of some 1,000 people. FPDK campaigner Basilio Araujo warned the bloody infighting that followed the hasty withdrawal of the Portuguese colonial administration in 1975 could repeat itself if the pro-independence camp won. "In 1975, there was a group which wanted to bring down the Portuguese flag and what happened was an all-out war. Now the same group wants to bring down the flag that is currently flying, there is a possibility that we will experience again what happened in 1975," Araujo, an FPDK spokesman, said. But the campaign of the rival pro-independence camp was barely noticeable Saturday. Pereira said the independence side began a radio program, entitled "It's Time," and will also campaign through the "Voice of Resistance" newspaper. On August 30, some 450,000 East Timorese both within the territory and elsewhere in the world will be asked if they accept an offer of autonomy under Indonesian rule. Jakarta has said it may grant independence to the former Portuguese colony it invaded in 1975 and annexed the following year if the autonomy offer was rejected. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 14 Aug 1999 jam 21:15:03 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
