Military

DATE=10/16/2000

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=EAST TIMOR / LEADERSHIP

NUMBER=5-47180

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=DILI, EAST TIMOR

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: United Nations officials say they hope to complete work on a draft constitution for East Timor by April, so the territory can hold its first presidential elections in July or August. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu profiles the men who are likely to lead East Timor to its new status as an independent nation.

TEXT: Every Sunday morning, the faithful in Dili gather at a local Catholic church to pray and sing.

/// SFX: SINGING--ESTABLISH & FADE UNDER ///

They pray for their families still with them, and for the loved ones and friends they lost last year in the violent aftermath of the territory's overwhelming vote to separate from Indonesia.

Pro-Indonesian militias, armed and organized by sections of the Indonesian military, killed scores of innocent people and sacked much of East Timor in the days following the August 30th vote last year.

But now that international peacekeepers are providing much-needed security for the territory, the task of establishing an independent, viable nation has begun in earnest.

For East Timorese businessman Ruy Goncalves [pron: gahn-'SAHL-vess], that can only mean a nation under the leadership of the former independence fighter Xanana [pron: shah-'NAH-nah] Gusmao.

/// GONCALVES ACT ///

At this stage, he is the only one I can see to be the leader

because he is the one that had been fighting for all of these

years and he is the one the Timorese trust.

/// END ACT ///

Xanana Gusmao became the symbol of East Timorese resistance shortly after Jakarta forcibly annexed East Timor in 1976. Taking up the leadership of the armed rebel forces -- Falintil -- he attained legendary status by eluding capture for 13 years as he led his guerrilla separatist movement in the mountains. But Mr. Gusmao was eventually caught and imprisoned in 1992.

Freed seven days after the U-N sponsored referendum in 1999, Mr. Gusmao vowed to use his new-found liberty to bring peace to his homeland. Trading in jungle fatigues for blue jeans and sandals, he relinquished command of Falintil this August, and is currently focused on providing leadership for the recently-created National Timorese Democratic Union, or C-N-R-T.

C-N-R-T is an umbrella group that includes two long-time adversaries -- Falintil's political arm, Fretilin, and the Timorese Democratic Union. It was a fight between these two groups that gave Jakarta the opportunity to invade East Timor 25 years ago.

Many see Mr. Gusmao as the man who can prevent a power struggle within C-N-R-T because of his long-standing friendship with Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning human-rights activist who now serves as Mr. Gusmao's personal representative and C-N-R-T's vice-president.

Mr. Ramos-Horta's credentials as a journalist and pacifist assure many Timorese that if East Timor's internal differences are revisited, they will be dealt with through politics, not war.

/// SFX: PRIEST SAYING MASS--ESTABLISH & FADE ///

The other crucial leader in East Timor is Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo, who is a hero to many for his outspoken defense of the rights of the East Timorese.

As bishop of Dili, he is the spiritual guide for nearly 800-thousand East Timorese, whose Catholic heritage was a source of continuing conflict with mostly-Muslim Indonesia. He spent the dramatic, violent years after the 1975 Indonesian invasion living in Portugal and then in Rome. It was former president Suharto who asked him to return to East Timor in 1982 -- believing that Bishop Belo would be easier to handle than his outspoken predecessor, Bishop Costa Lopes.

But he was not. Bishop Belo used his post to frequently criticize Indonesian rule in East Timor, which saw thousands killed and imprisoned. For his efforts, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with Jose Ramos-Horta.

But the bishop also has detractors -- East Timorese who do not trust him for the years he spent in exile in Europe. He has been branded a traitor by Indonesians and pro-independence activists alike.

Still, Dili resident Dominguez Suarez sees Bishop Belo, Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta as the spiritual and political fathers best able to steer her country through the difficult times ahead.

/// SUAREZ ACT ///

I think for our leader, they are good people because they

want to give the people here a future.

/// END ACT ///

Although few people question the legitimacy of Mr. Gusmao's bid for power, there are those who question just how democratic he really is. So far, C-N-R-T has not shown any evidence that it is willing to allow free and open debate.

Others say it is still too early to tell what the C-N-R-T is capable of doing. U-N spokesperson Barbara Reis notes the United Nations has only recently brought the East Timorese fully into the political process in the governing structure.

/// REIS ACT ///

After months of making decisions in consultation with

the Timorese, it was decided that consultation was

not enough. Consultation was creating a great deal

of frustration within the Timorese leadership and the

Timorese population. So, the transitional administration

proposed the idea of creating a coalition between the

international staff and the Timorese.

/// END ACT ///

But the United Nations admits factionalism and the absence of democratic tradition are aspects of East Timor's past that may not be easily overcome. For the future leaders of East Timor, keeping internal political tensions in check could very well become their biggest challenge. (Signed)

NEB/HK/AR/JO/WTW