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Rioting, governor's office damaged

Source
Kompas - June 28, 1998 (abridged)

Dili - With the delegation of European Union Ambassadors having set foot on Dili, East Timor's capital, less than an hour on Saturday, riots started in this city of some 170,000 inhabitants. Stone-throwing bouts broke out in the heart of the city between pro-integration plus pro-autonomy groups and those demanding a referendum.

The governor's office was among buildings damaged by the mob. The riots moved into higher gear when the corpse of Manuel Soares (21), a youth shot dead the day before in Manatuto Regency, was paraded around the city.

Five members of the European Union Ambassadors delegation landed at the Comoro Airport, Dili, around 12.50 local time. They were met by a crowd of about 1,000 persons who came in dozens of trucks and private cars. The crowd which called itself supporters of integration and autonomy, asked that the ambassadors should take notice of their aspirations.

Riots began to swamp Dili when the mass of integration supporters started to enter the Regional Parliament building. It is not clear how it started, but suddenly stone-throwing began between that crowd and and a mass of referendum supporters who came streaming in from the direction of the Old Mercado market.

Anti-riot units of the Mobile Brigade were brought in quickly, preventing the crowd from getting onto the Regional Parliament grounds. From the opposite direction, Dili District Military Commander Lt. Col. Endar Priyanto led his troops personally in dispersing the crowd.

A crowd which came later tried to march towards Hotel Mahkota where the ambassadors are accommodated. Before reaching that objective the crowd ransacked the governor's office. A number of automobiles were wrecked, including the governor's official car.

N Aruan, public relations head for the regional government, said that his office suffered the most. A number of men even threatened him with machetes. Similar threats were aimed at an Antara reporter who was stationed in the locality. The crowd screamed at newly arriving people to stay away.

He said that some 300-400 persons suddenly appeared and streamed towards the governor's office. Some came by motorbike. At that time a meeting was underway on the top floor between East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osoares and the European Union Ambassadors delegation.

Commenting in the incident he considered extremely embarassing, Abilio said furiously that if this was what they wanted he was ready to wage war on them again.

The situation in the city of Dili heated up increasingly when the corpse of Manuel Soares arrived at the university campus around 14.00 hours. A crowd of 3,000 screamed ferociously, condemning the shooting incident which happened on Friday morning. Manuel's corpse was paraded around town by thousands of citizens. He was taken to Bishop Belo's residence while members of the ambassadors delegation were there. The bishop himself was in Aileu, 40 km to the south of Dili.

The commander of Military Resort 164/Wira Dharma said that the perpetrators of the incident were still being investigated. It started with the stopping of 20 truchs transporting a crowd of integration supporters from the Lautem Regency, on the border of Baucau and Manatuto. They were stopped by an anti-integration group, which started to throw stones. But somehow, volley shooting was heard. He added that eight pro-integration youth were in hospital for being hit by stones.

[According to a June 26 report by Reuters, many of the "pro-integration" protesters said that had been given the day off and ordered to join the demonstration. One protester told Reuters "We have been asked to join the protest and sign an attendance list". Others admitted that many of them were not even East Timorese - James Balowski.]

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