E Timor votes in a climate of fear

AFTER NEARLY a quarter of a century of bloodshed, the people of East Timor go to the polls today facing a choice between independence and limited autonomy inside Indonesia.

The territory was tense all day yesterday as mobs of anti-independence militia members, armed with machetes, pipe guns and samurai swords wandered the streets of the capital. The militias, backed by elements of the Indonesian military, have killed hundreds of men, women and children this year in an attempt to fight off independence.

But there were no major incidents reported yesterday and both the militias and pro-independence rebels announced a pact to hand in their weapons. Striking an ominous note, the Indonesian military said it could not guarantee security, despite the presence of 15,000 soldiers and police across the territory.

Previously, Indonesia has insisted that it can maintain order and rejected calls for a UN peace-keeping force. The UN-organised ballot offers more than 450,000 East Timorese around the world the choice they have been seeking since Jakarta invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and annexed it a year later.

All day yesterday religious and political leaders, including Pope John Paul II, appealed for an end to violence in East Timor. In a message read out on his behalf at a dawn service in the capital, Dili, the Pope urged the East Timorese to have courage and vote according to their conscience.

Carlos Belo, the Catholic Bishop of Dili and winner of the Nobel peace prize said he favoured delaying today's ballot until people could vote without fear. He said, "I would prefer it. Until people can vote [in peace], because peace and tranquillity are expressed in the free circulation of people."

Bishop Belo said he believed that the UN and Portuguese authorities had been hasty in scheduling the vote. "They are acting with haste. But I hope that there are guarantees that people can vote [in safety] and afterwards that people can live in peace," he added.

Portuguese and UN officials have insisted that the vote must take place on schedule.

Bishop Belo won the 1996 Nobel peace prize jointly with the resistance activist Jose Ramos-Horta for their efforts to bring peace to East Timor. "Brothers and sisters, many people are afraid at this time," Bishop Belo, said in another message read out to 1,200 people in the garden of his house. "Do not be afraid, be brave. One day people around the world will speak of us. They will talk of the warrior people and of the brave-hearted."

The weeks leading up to today's referendum have seen a series of violent incidents across the province. Yesterday morning, East Timor's police and military chiefs, a militia leader, and senior officers of Falintil, the pro-independence guerrilla army, made a joint promise to disarm and arrest anyone carrying weapons. "This is a new step in trust for all of us," said Eurico Guterrez, whose Aitarak (Thorn) militia is believed to be responsible for several murders. "If there are people carrying arms and sharp weapons, we guarantee that they are not our forces."

Most independent observers believe that in a fair poll, a large majority of East Timorese would vote for independence after 23 years of oppressive Indonesian occupation. But East Timor's mountainous terrain and the poor state of its roads leaves the voting process vulnerable to manipulation.

The UN has set up 200 polling stations in the territory itself, and overseas East Timorese, many of whom fled after the 1975 invasion will be able to vote in Jakarta, Portugal and Australia. 450,000 people, more than 90 per cent of those eligible, have registered to vote, although many of them will have to walk long distances to reach their polling stations.

The problem is especially serious in the regions adjoining the western part of the island, which has always been part of Indonesia. Pro-Jakarta sentiment has always been stronger, and the militias and Indonesian army are suspected of having brought in large numbers of Indonesian citizens from over the border.

In the area surrounding the town of Maliana, where houses were burned down and at least three people were killed on Friday, UN officials fear a revenge attack by the militias during or after the vote.