Jakarta – The Nobel laureate Roman Catholic Bishop of Dili, Carlos Ximenes Felipe Belo, said Saturday he was scrapping a planned peace mass Sunday in the wake of a deadly rampage by pro-Indonesian militia in the East Timorese capital on Saturday.

"We are cancelling the plan to hold a peace mass on Sunday because the security situation and conditions in Dili are becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Victims have even already fallen," Belo was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying.

The mass had initially been scheduled to be held at the Tacitolu field west of Dili where Pope John Paul II celebrated mass during his visit to East Timor in October 1989. A Belo aide in the East Timorese capital of Dili confirmed the report on the decision.

Belo had said that the mass, which was to have included members of all warring factions in East Timor, had been planned at the request of Eurico Guterres, the leader of the Aitarak (Thorn) pro-Indonesia militia.

But Guterres, addressing some 1,500 pro-Jakarta militia on parade in the front of the governor's office here earlier Saturday, said his militia would launch a purge of pro-independence supporters from the administration.

He was at the head of the convoy of militia criss-crossing the town, firing shots into the air and attacking the houses of known pro-independence activists.

The East Timor military commander said that 13 people had been killed in the violence, while in Jakarta, Mario Viegas Carrascalao, former governor of the territory and now member of the Supreme Advisory Council, said reports he had received from Dili spoke of at least 30 deaths.