Dili – The capital of the troubled territory of East Timor remained tense on Monday in the week after Indonesia's surprise announcement that it might allow independence.
With both supporters and opponents of the idea consolidating their plans, about 200 youths staged a rally to press for independence, crisscrossing the streets of capital Dili on trucks yelling slogans.
At the stately governor's office, facing the Bay of Timor, the administrative and military heads of the territory's 13 districts met Jakarta-appointed Governor Jose Osorio Abilio Soares.
"The meeting is to obtain explanation from the governor on the government's announcement so that they can provide the correct information to their people in their respective districts," a source at the governor's office said.
However, the source said that during the meeting, the governor "underlined that the stress should be laid on the government's expanded autonomy scheme."
Jakarta on Wednesday said it may propose that East Timor, annexed by Indonesia 23 years ago, be allowed to secede should a current proposal for a wide-ranging autonomy be rejected by the Timorese people.
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has said independence for East Timor was only "the last option" and that Jakarta would flesh out the autonomy scheme in talks with Portugal held under the auspices of the UN secretary general.
Lieutenant Colonel Supadi, who heads the East Timor military command's general staff affairs department, said the possibility of independence was preoccupying the people in Dili.
"Both camps, those for the autonomy and those demanding independence, are now busy preparing their own proposals, plans and positions. They are all consolidating their forces," Supadi told AFP.
The protestors, some wearing headbands with "total independence" in Portuguese inscribed on them, went to the local parliament to make calls for a free East Timor, then held a free-speech forum at the Santa Cruz cemetery.
Santa Cruz was the scene of the November 12, 1991 "Dili Massacre" when Indonesian soldiers fired into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators, killing at least 50 according to official tolls. Other tolls, including from witnesses, spoke of more than 100 deaths.
The protestors then boarded trucks and paraded around Dili in the absence of security forces. A lone military helicopter circled above. The demonstration came after a separatist group, the National Front for the Defenders of Independence of the Timor Leste Nation, called in leaflets circulating in Dili, for mass rallies in support of full independence.
Meanwhile, the head of the East Timor education and culture office, Andry Sutardi, said his office will soon ask its employees, including school teachers in the territory, whether they wanted to leave or stay should East Timor secede.
Officials have said some 250 migrant teachers in East Timor were seeking transfers to other regions saying they feared for their lives in the territory, citing cited terror, intimidation, physical attack and threats.
Major General Adam Damiri, head of the Bali-based Udayana regional military command that oversees security in East Timor, confirmed there had been instances of terror and intimidation against teachers and doctors, Antara said.
On January 26, the Dili state hospital closed down, allowing a skeleton staff to man the hospital, following attacks on two doctors.
Florentino Sarmento of the National Commission on Human Rights in Dili told AFP that attacks on Indonesian staff at the state hospital had been going on since June.
Indonesia annexed East Timor in 1976 but the move was never recognized by the United Nations. A pro-independence movement has been active since.