Tim Johnston, Dili – A leading opponent of East Timorese independence said on Tuesday that a narrow loss in next Monday's ballot on the future status of the troubled territory would lead to a renewed guerrilla war.
The warning came as Indonesia's military warned that militants on both sides were out to provoke violence in the troubled territory.
Tito Baptista, chairman of the United Front for East Timor Autonomy, said opponents of independence would be prepared to wage a guerrilla war if 40 percent of voters chose autonomy and 60 percent chose independence.
"If we lose 40 percent it is enough to fight a hundred years more. We will live as guerrillas in the mountains," said Baptista. UNIF is an umbrella organisation that groups all the main parties opposed to East Timor's secession from Indonesia.
In Jakarta, the military's new chief spokesman said there were provocateurs on both sides trying to stir up trouble. "We don't want it and want to discourage such violence," Brigadier-General Sudrajat said.
Baptista, speaking on the fringes of a pro-Jakarta rally of some 3,000 people, said that mistakes had been made in the past, but promised that they would be rectified under autonomy.
"During the 20 years of integration we have a lot of mistakes: corruption, nepotism, violation of human rights, we know it. But under autonomy we will amend everything that was bad over the last 23 years," he said.
He accused the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), which is organising the $53 million vote, of partiality towards independence.
"We know that UNAMET is not impartial, but first of all we will see the result," he said. The United Nations has blamed armed pro-Indonesia militias for most of the violence that has killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands in the past eight months.
A local human rights group criticised the United Nations on Tuesday for doing too little to stop the violence.
"UNAMET obviously recognises the problem of the violence but has not done anything to respond to it, much less prevent it from occurring," human rights group Yayasan HAK said in a statement.
Yayasan HAK said the Indonesian police, who are responsible for security, had failed to fulfil their duty. "It appears to us that there is no reason to continue the ballot in this kind of situation," Yayasan HAK said.
A leader of the pro-independence National Council for Timorese Resistance (CNRT) said that the insecure environment in East Timor had severely limited their ability to campaign.
"It has had a tremendous impact on our campaign in some areas," said David Ximenes. In some areas most CNRT activists were in hiding, he added. But he said that he did not want the vote, which has already been delayed twice, to be further postponed.