DATE=12/7/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR ANNIVERSARY (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-256926
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The people of East Timor held a somber remembrance
today/Tuesday of the Indonesian invasion of their territory
24 years ago. As Patricia Nunan reports from Jakarta, it
is the first time the East Timorese have been able to
commemorate those who died in the civil war free of
Indonesian occupation forces.
TEXT: In a ceremony on the main thoroughfare in the East
Timorese capital, Dili, one of the territory's best-known
independence leaders, Jose Ramos-Horta, performed a
symbolic gesture to mark the territory's break from
Indonesian rule. He cut the ribbon to formally rename the
street the "Avenue of the Martyrs of the Fatherland." The
boulevard had been named after Ibu Tien, the wife of
Indonesia's former President Suharto -- who ordered
Indonesia's invasion of the territory in 1975.
Mr. Ramos-Horta said the street was renamed to honor those
who died during 24 years of fighting against the Indonesian
Armed Forces. The independence leader - who, with Bishop
Carlos Belo, was awarded the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for
their work to end repression by the Indonesian military --
said he still finds it "unreal" that a small nation like
East Timor managed to get rid of a "powerful invader" and
is on its way to becoming a fully independent nation.
East Timor was granted independence from Indonesia in
October, after the United Nations supervised a special
referendum to determine whether the people wanted the
territory to remain with Indonesia or to have full
independence.
Indonesia's decision to let East Timor go marks the end of
24 years of civil war sparked by Indonesia's 1975 invasion.
Human rights groups say 200 thousand people died as a
result of the invasion and subsequent military occupation
of East Timor. Indonesia's 1976 annexation of East Timor
was never recognized by the U-N.
In church services around the capital, clergy spoke of the
need for reconciliation between those who supported East
Timor's independence and those who favored integration with
Indonesia.
A U-N transitional authority is administering East Timor
until it has a constitution and government institutions
that will enable the new country to stand on its own as an
independent nation. (Signed)
NEB/PN/KL
07-Dec-1999 11:44 AM EDT (07-Dec-1999 1644 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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