DATE=9/21/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=GUSMAO - AUSTRALIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254121
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=DARWIN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: East Timorese independence leader Xanana
Gusmao says he has no intention of setting up a
government in exile, in the northern Australian city
of Darwin. As Patricia Nunan reports from Darwin, Mr.
Gusmao's announcement comes as hundreds of
peacekeepers continue to leave Australia for their
mission to restore order in East Timor.
TEXT: Widespread speculation surrounded the arrival of
Xanana Gusmao Sunday, in Darwin - the home-base of
several East Timor freedom groups. The East Timorese
independence leader had nothing but praise for the
Australian government -- both for welcoming him to
Darwin and for its role in leading the peacekeeping
mission to East Timor.
But while it had been widely reported that the former
rebel leader planned to set up a government in exile
in the northern Australian city, Mr. Gusmao says that
is not true.
/// GUSMAO ACT ///
No, not at all, because we will work in the framework
of the United Nations to set up an administration
during the phase that will lead us to independence.
/// END ACT ///
Almost 80 percent of East Timorese voters cast their
ballots against continued Indonesian rule of East
Timor, in a U-N supervised autonomy referendum held
August 30th. The United Nations mission in the
territory is mandated by the Security Council to help
put a government in place. Indonesia is expected to
formally grant East Timor independence in November.
But first the peacekeepers must restore order, after
two weeks of violence in which thousands of unarmed
people died and hundreds of thousands of others were
forced to flee. Pro-Indonesia militia groups -- which
are opposed to independence for East Timor -- are
widely thought to be behind the violence. Mr. Gusmao
says the scale of the violence caught him by surprise.
//GUSMAO ACT//
No, we fought for 24 years. We didn't suspect that the
violence would take such dimensions and such scale.
//END ACT//
Mr. Gusmao is a former guerrilla commander who fought
for more than two decades in the East Timorese jungle
before his arrest in 1992, by Indonesian authorities.
Earlier this year he was transferred from prison to
house arrest, until his release three weeks ago.
Meanwhile, hundreds of troops continue to leave Darwin
on the second day of deployment of the U-N
peacekeeping mission to East Timor. The international
force will ultimately number eight thousand. Their
mission is to restore stability. The peacekeepers -
led by the Australian military -- will also help with
the distribution of humanitarian aid for the hundreds
of thousands of East Timorese who escaped militia
violence only to face food and water shortages.
(signed)
NEB/PN/GC/FC/PLM
21-Sep-1999 03:04 AM EDT (21-Sep-1999 0704 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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