Lindsay Murdoch – Pro-integration forces blockaded Dili airport and set up roadblocks around the East Timorese capital late yesterday amid unconfirmed reports that militia had killed two more United Nations staff.
A pro-Jakarta leader earlier walked out of a conciliation conference hosted by the United Nations, saying he would challenge the results of Monday's ballot on the future of East Timor because of alleged polling irregularities.
UN officials said the town of Ermera, south-west of Dili, had been under siege for several hours late yesterday after a convoy of 17 vehicles carrying about 150 people, including up to 20 Australians, was threatened and blocked from leaving for Dili.
An Australian aid worker in the convoy, Mr Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam International, said the militia were demanding that 50 Timorese in the convoy be handed over to them.
"We are terrified and in strife here," he said by satellite telephone before the convoy was allowed to proceed.
Another locally employed UN staffer, Mr Joao Lopes Gomes, 49, was stabbed to death by militia in the same district on Monday night, prompting outrage from the UN.
The violence came as militia opposing independence went ahead with a threat to stop East Timorese political leaders from leaving the disputed territory.
Witnesses said Indonesian police failed to act as five East Timorese were prevented from boarding a flight to Bali.
A militia leader, Mr Eurico Guterres, said his men would stop all of East Timor's elite from leaving until further notice. "We don't want any of the leaders of either side to go," he said. "They have to be responsible to the people ... they cannot run to Australia or go and eat steaks at five-star hotels in Jakarta or Bali."
A day after almost all 438,000 eligible people – 98.6 percent of those registered – voted in an atmosphere free of violence, armed militias returned to the streets of Dili, harassing people, ransacking the office of independence supporters and forcing most residents to stay indoors.
While UN officials hailed the ballot as a success, a key pro-Indonesian leader, Mr Basilio Araujo, described it as "garbage" and warned it would sow the seeds for new conflict.
Mr Araujo released a seven-page, 55-point list of alleged irregularities. These included UN staff encouraging people to vote for independence, polling booths made of cheap materials, more ballot papers having been issued than there were voters and votes cast exceeding the number of registered voters.
The statement said that the UN mission was part of an "international conspiracy to block and defeat the integration stream" because that was what the "big countries, the colonisers and killers of mankind for centuries desire".
Mr Araujo walked out of aUN-organised meeting in Dili after saying his side would not co-operate until the UN properly investigated the complaints.
In Jakarta, Indonesian ministers gave conflicting signals on whether the Government of President B.J. Habibie would accept the result.
The Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alatas, welcomed a "peaceful and therefore fair execution" of the ballot, saying he was confident irregularities would be investigated.
But only hours earlier the Justice Minister, Mr Muladi, accused the UN of an independence bias and said the vote should be held again if there had been intimidation by UN staff.
Asked about reports that UN staff pressured people to vote for independence, Mr Muladi was quoted by the official Antara newsagency as saying: "This is proof that UNAMET [the UN mission] consists of pro-independence people." But Mr David Wimhurst, the UN's spokesman in Dili, rejected claims that UN staff influenced people to favour independence. "All our staff involved in this process acted correctly and assisted those who required such assistance. I suspect the unfounded allegations are a result of a misconception and a misunderstanding."
The Australian observer delegation, led by the former deputy prime minister Mr Tim Fischer, said from what it had seen "procedures allowed for a vote that was secret, free and fair".
Mr Fischer said he had been told three UN local staff had been killed in the Ermera area. But UN officials in Dili said they could not confirm reports of the additional two killings.
Another delegation member, Mr Pat Walsh, of the Council for Overseas Aid, said the East Timorese "were game enough to defy the system and come out against all odds and vote for independence". They "would have walked over broken glass" to vote and "full marks to them".