Supporters of independence in East Timor angrily accused Indonesia's military of orchestrating a new bloodbath in the territory yesterday as ministers flew in and held crisis talks amid chaos.
Casualty reports were impossible to verify, though witness accounts said scores were killed yesterday in the former Portuguese colony.
"There is every indication that a massacre is taking place, staged by (Indonesian) military forces," Ana Gomes, who is Lisbon's diplomatic envoy to Jakarta, told Portugal's TSF radio. "Over 100 dead would be a conservative estimate."
PHOTO: AFP
People escaped however they could, in an exodus from the province. More than 5,000 terrified civilians left from Dili's seaport on ferries for nearby islands, which are being prepared to receive as many as 100,000 people.
In Dili, the provincial capital, rampaging militiamen with guns and machetes spread terror. There was no apparent attempt by thousands of soldiers and police to stop them, underscoring allegations that elements in the security forces are tacitly supporting them.
"What is happening in Dili is a general attack on the population led by the military," one campaigner said.
Asked what the military and police were doing to rein in the militia, another added: "They are doing absolutely nothing."
A top pro-Jakarta figure put the blame for the violence on the United Nations, which on Saturday announced that East Timorese had overwhelmingly rejected Indonesian rule.
Asked if most of the violence had been carried out by the militia, Basilio Araujo said: "Yes, but the attacks are a manifestation of their disappointment with UNAMET, which has been unfair."
Militia were reported to be moving up into the hills around Dili, where thousands of refugees were sheltering. There were unconfirmed reports that Indonesian forces had assisted in some attacks.
UN spokesman David Wimhurst said the violence was clearly a "campaign of intimidation" aimed at driving it out of East Timor.
A team of top Indonesian ministers held talks after flying into the city, but hardly left the airport. Military chief General Wiranto met military leaders while Foreign Minister Ali Alatas met UN electoral commissioners, blaming the violence on complaints about the UN's conduct of the poll.
As the team landed in Dili, dozens of terrified Indonesians were running the other way to get on military flights out. Around 25,000 refugees had taken shelter in churches, a key police station and other locations around the town.
On Saturday, the United Nations announced that 78.5 percent of East Timorese had rejected Jakarta's offer of broad autonomy in last week's referendum, putting the former Portuguese colony on the path to independence. The militia, backed by elements in the Indonesian military, are determined to stop that.
The violence has prompted loud calls for a UN peacekeeping force, but many doubt it could be organized quickly and Jakarta is not keen on the idea, although it appeared last week to be relaxing its opposition amid massive pressure.
However, independence appeared a long way off on the streets of Dili yesterday. Sources in the town said the militia had concentrated their forces in the capital.
Truckloads of militiamen carrying machetes, home-made guns and other crude weapons were driving through the streets of Dili.
Around 10,000 refugees had packed the main police station, while 2,500 had crowded into the house of Bishop Carlos Belo, the spiritual leader of the mainly Roman Catholic territory.
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