Indonesia freed rebel leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao from house arrest yesterday, but there was nothing he could do to help his terrorized people on East Timor as they streamed out of the territory.
His voice cracking at his first news conference, Gusmao, widely tipped to become East Timor's first president after last week's landslide vote for independence, predicted he would inherit a country emptied by "genocide."
Gusmao blamed the upheaval on his long-time enemy: the Indonesian armed forces, which have worked with militias opposed to independence in driving more than 100,000 people -- an eighth of the population -- from the territory in the past few days.
"There is no population anymore," Gusmao said. "The army is killing the population. The army is destroying and plundering the country."
"I think many Timorese will die in coming weeks," Gusmao said. "I don't have numbers ... I think many children will die, because their mothers will not have the food to feed them."
Gusmao said his rebels would stay in the designated zones they agreed to go into so the referendum Aug. 30 could be held.
They would be badly outgunned in any case by the 20,000 Indonesian troops and police now in the territory, with more on the way after the government declared martial law yesterday.
In addition, the military has actively supported the fiercely loyal pro-Jakarta militias.
Only the international community could save his people, Gusmao said. But Indonesia has steadfastly ruled out a UN peacekeeping force.
Gusmao was freed after several days of negotiations with the government, which had wanted him to fly immediately back to Dili. His supporters feared he would be killed on arrival.
A deal was worked out so he could be freed but initially stay in Jakarta -- 2,000km from East Timor and any chance to make his formidable charisma work on the ground.
Yesterday, he was driven in a government car from the sun-baked, tiny house where he had been confined in recent months, past the barbed-wire fence and gun tower of the prison next door, and to a release ceremony at the Justice Ministry.
Before a mob of reporters, an order from President B.J. Habibie was read out granting him amnesty and freedom from the 20-year sentence he was handed after his capture in 1992.
Gusmao, wearing a dark suit and tie instead of guerrilla fatigues or prison stripes, was then driven to the British Embassy, where he will stay until he decides his next move.
Asked by reporters when he would be going to East Timor, Gusmao said: "Obviously, when the circumstances allow it, and I hope it will be as soon as possible."
"I've only just arrived at the British Embassy, I've only just started to breathe freely," Gusmao said.
"I don't know what my plans are. I don't know where my friends are and where to go. I will go, but I don't know if I will go tomorrow."
The government -- whose intentions are murky, since the military seems to be calling the shots -- the UN and others say Gusmao is the only one who can inspire a measure of reconciliation.
Even Eurico Guterres, the notorious leader of the violently anti-independence Aitarak militia, has expressed respect for Gusmao for standing for his principles.
A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, was blunt:
"He basically can't do anything useful in East Timor right now. He can't go back, he can't reach out to the pro-independence people or anything else."
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