DATE=9/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR VIOLENCE UPDATE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-253500
BYLINE=LISA ROSE WEAVER
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The situation on the ground in the East
Timorese capital, Dili, is worsening just days after a
referendum showed the majority of people there do not
want to be a part of Indonesia. Amid the sharp
escalation of violence at least 25 people have been
killed in the past 24 hours. Lisa Rose Weaver reports
from Jakarta.
TEXT: The situation in Dili is dire. An official
with a media security group, who is under siege in the
U-N compound, says huge black columns of smoke
dominate the horizon. Sustained gunfire is heard
everywhere.
Anti-independence militia have reportedly attacked the
office of the International Committee of the Red Cross
after forcing some of the people taking refuge there
out at gunpoint.
Some of the people removed were rounded up and taken
away. This source and others have reported that in
the last two days several groups of East Timorese have
been forced across the border into West Timor. The
motive for the forced exodus was not immediately
clear.
The militia also attacked and burned the home of Nobel
Peace Prize winner Bishop Carlos Bello, a long time
champions of the right of Timorese to seek
independence peacefully. The Official Indonesian News
Agency reports that Bishop Bello flew (by helicopter)
to the town of Bacau to talk with a fellow bishop.
Meanwhile Dili has become a city divided between
roving armed militia members and thousands taking
refuge wherever they can.
But hiding is not enough. There are repeated reports
of the militia shooting amongst crowds of refugees and
in one case, sending them fleeing into the U-N
compound. Some three-thousand people are inside the
compound today (Monday).
The U-N Monday evacuated 200 United Nations personnel
to Darwin, Australia. (signed)
NEB/LRW/PLM
06-Sep-1999 06:51 AM EDT (06-Sep-1999 1051 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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