DATE=10/19/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR / GRAVE (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255216
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A mass grave containing the bodies of at least
20-people has been discovered by international
peacekeepers in East Timor. As Patricia Nunan reports
from Jakarta, it is the largest discovery of graves
since anti-independence militia groups went on a
rampage of destruction and killing last month.
Text: Peacekeepers say it remains unclear whether the
bodies they found had been killed at the site of the
mass grave -- or if they were moved there later. The
grave was found in the town of Liquisa, a stronghold
of anti-independence militia groups 60-kilometers west
of the capital, Dili.
Despite recent reports that the militias are still
active in Liquisa, the peacekeepers say they have the
town under control. An investigation will be launched
into the killings.
Human rights workers say hundreds, or perhaps
thousands, of people may have been killed in East
Timor when anti-independence militia groups launched a
murderous campaign of terror last month. The anti-
independence militias were reacting to an announcement
by the United Nations that the majority of East
Timorese voters rejected a plan to continue living
under Indonesian rule.
But it is difficult to determine exactly how many
people may have been killed. Up to 400-thousand of
East Timor's missing people are believed to be hiding
in the mountains, or taking shelter in refugee camps
in neighboring West Timor.
Aid-workers say they are getting ready for what could
be a massive exodus of refugees returning to East
Timor in the coming weeks. Relief workers say they
expect refugees to be malnourished because of the food
and water shortages they have faced in refugee camps.
// REST OPT //
Meanwhile, Indonesia's National Assembly is expected
to ratify the results of East Timor's independence
vote (Tuesday). The move would make East Timor an
independent nation after 24-years of guerilla war.
(SIGNED)
NEB/PN/GC/FC
19-Oct-1999 07:18 AM EDT (19-Oct-1999 1118 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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