DATE=8/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - EAST TIMOR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253247
BYLINE=BRONWYN CURRAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
///Editors: re-issuing what was 2-253246 as 2-253247
to change the wording of the last actuality (Amelia).
That actuality is being fed in Indonesian and is
paraphrased by Bronwyn Curran. It also is shortened
from its original form. The actuality in its entirety
will be fed in Indonesian.///
VOICED AT:
INTRO: East Timor Resistance leader Xanana Gusmao was
allowed out from house arrest in the Indonesian
capital Monday, to cast his vote in the day's historic
ballot. Bronwyn Curran reports from Jakarta, the
former guerilla leader received a hero's welcome when
he arrived at the voting center, where almost a
thousand East Timorese were waiting to vote.
TEXT: ///ACT: SFX: CROWD CHEERS FOR XANANA ///
Throngs of supporters pressed against a tight security
cordon of East Timorese bodyguards as a prison escort
led Xanana Gusmao into the Jakarta
voting center. Other voters shouted his name and
yelled "Timor Leste" as Mr. Gusmao emerged from the
voting booth, making the East Timor independence
movement's symbol with his hands.
Fifteen-hundred East Timorese had registered to vote
at the United Nations office in Jakarta.
Almost a thousand of those voters were already at the
center when the independence leader arrived early
Monday.
Outside the house in central Jakarta where he has been
detained since leaving prison in January,
Mr. Gusmao's lawyer Hendardi said his client has
decided to remain silent until the results of the
ballot are announced.
/// ACT HENDARDI(INDONESIAN)///
Mr. Hendardi said Mr. Gusmao does not want to make any
comment for the time being, until the vote counting is
completed. He does not want to upset the vote counting
process or say anything that might be interpreted as
provocative by the different sides involved in the
process. Mr. Hendardi added the rebel leader does
feel the ballot has been carried out in a good manner.
The crowd of voters in Jakarta was enthusiastic but
peaceful. Among the voters was the Secretary General
of the Timorese Socialist Party, Salar Kosi.
/// ACT KOSI ///
Kosi: I have been fighting for independence so it
means I will choose independence.
Q: how long were you fighting for?
Kosi: For 24 years. I was in forest for four years
and I came to the city and I live in Java since 1989.
///END ACT ///
Twenty-three year old student Matheus travelled from
the central Java town of Yogyakarta to cast his vote
for independence.
///MATHEUS ACT ///
I have decide to make my own decision about our
future, about East Timor's future, so of course I
choose independence for East Timor.
///END ACT ///
Twenty-three-year old flight attendant Amelia says
she's been waiting years to have her say on East
Timor.
/// AMELIA ACT. in Indonesian, bring under and then
fade///
Amelia says she has been fighting for independence
since seeing with her own eyes people being killed
indiscriminately, so that's what made her want to do
something.
Thousands of East Timorese outside Indonesia also
voted on Monday. In Australia, Nobel Laureate Jose
Ramos Horta was among several hundred voters. As he
dropped his ballot in the box in Sydney he said his
vote was for peace in Timor and for all those who died
in the past 24 years. (Signed)
NEB/BC/FC/PLM
30-Aug-1999 07:26 AM EDT (30-Aug-1999 1126 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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