DATE=9/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR CHAOS - L-ONLY
NUMBER=2-253458
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=DILI
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The security situation in East Timor is
deteriorating, with armed militia groups forcing U-N
personnel to pull out of another town. One American
civilian police officer has been wounded. The violence
comes the day the United Nations announced that the
East Timorese people voted in favor of independence
from Indonesia in a special autonomy referendum held
on Monday. Patricia Nunan brings us the latest from
the East Timorese capital, Dili.
TEXT: The United Nation has been forced to withdraw
from Liquisa -- 40 kilometers west of the capital. An
American civilian police officer working for the
United Nations in Laquica has been wounded by gunfire.
In the capital, militia members shot at a hotel
housing senior U-N officials. At one point, a militia
member entered the hotel threatening foreign
journalists with a machete.
In other parts of the capital, smoke could be seen
rising from buildings which had been set on fire.
Leaders of the militia group have vowed to fight to
the death to keep East Timor a part of Indonesia.
The violence comes the day the United Nations
announced that 78-point-five percent of voters cast
their ballots against the plan proposed by the
Indonesian government for widespread autonomy for East
Timor.
Now East Timor is on it's way to becoming an
independence nation. Reactions to the news of the
ballots were largely subdued. Much of the capital
remained shut down with few people venturing into the
streets.
Violence by the militias has been on the rise since
the autonomy referendum was held on Monday. At least
four U-N local staff members have been killed and six
more are unaccounted for. (signed)
NEB/PN/TD-T/JO
04-Sep-1999 09:23 AM EDT (04-Sep-1999 1323 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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