Dili – Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta Wednesday returned to East Timor after 24 years in exile to a rousing welcome honoring his tireless efforts to end Indonesia's occupation of his homeland.
In a speech given in three languages – the local Tetum, English and Portuguese – to a crowd of some 4,000 people gathered in front of the seafront former governor's office, Ramos Horta, 49, paid tribute to those who had stayed behind and fought for independence. But he also sought forgiveness for those East Timorese who had opposed independence.
Ramos Horta was back in Dili for the first time since he left the territory just a few days before Indonesian troops invaded on December 7, 1975.
"I did not come today after 24 years with my colleagues from abroad to teach lessons to anyone because the true heros are those who stayed behind," Horta told the crowd, speaking from the steps of the old governor's office.
He said those who stayed behind had been those who suffered and had to endure torture or rape or were killed. "With humility we bow to their courage, the courage of our brothers and sisters.
"But with the same courage that we fought for independence, for freedom, we must also forgive. Forgiveness requires courage, there can no longer be enemies within the East Timorese family. Too many lives have been lost," he said.
He also paid tribute to the church, which he said had stood on the side of the people "in the darkest hours of our history." Ramos Horta, who was welcomed at Dili's Comoro airport by the deputy commander of the Falintil resistance fighters, Taur Matan Ruak and a welcoming committee of about 37 independence fighters and activists, was taken on a slow convoy to the centre of the town.
He was accompanied on the UN flight by the head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Sergio Vieira de Mello, and top executive of the umbrella National Resistance Council of East Timor (CRNT), David Ximenes.
While there were only small groups of people lining the road to downtown Dili, hundreds suddenly surrounded his car when he briefly stopped at Colmera, the city's commercial district, which has been mostly razed to the ground.
The crowd repeatedly shouted "Viva" and a band of bugles and marching drums suddenly came and played several East Timorese songs to greet him.
Dulci Araujo, a woman carrying her young child in her arm, pointed at Ramos Horta telling her boy, "he is a son of East Timor."
His arrival at the governor's office, now used by the UNTAET, was greeted by resounding applause and he had to walk the last few meters to the building as the mob blocked the car.
Ramos Horta was due to meet with co-Nobel laureate Bishop Carlos Ximenes Felipe Belo before attending a dinner hosted by East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao, the man widely believed will head the future free state of East Timor.
Ramos Horta, Gusmao and Ruak on Tuesday held historic talks with Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid during which the two sides agreed to open a new era of ties and turn the page on the enmity of the past.
East Timor voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with Indonesia in a UN-organised ballot on August 30. But the results unleashed a campaign of terror by military-backed pro-Jakarta militias who went on a rampage of murder, arson and deportations.
Ramos Horta fled East Timor three days before the Indonesian invasion in 1975 and became the territory's most vocal freedom crusader. He was also appointed representative to the United Nations for the Fretilin political arm of the resistance.
CNRT spokeswoman Ines Almeida said Ramos Horta was "staying indefinitely" and would spend his first night back with his niece and her family. His own house is believed to have been half-destroyed.
Ramos Horta returned to Indonesia for the first time in July when he met Gusmao to attend a meeting between the pro-and anti-independence sides in Jakarta. But he backed down on his threat to travel back home whether or not Jakarta gave him permission.