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East Timor 's former guerrillas could revolt

Source
Associated Press - June 23, 2000 (abridged)

Lisbon – East Timor 's independence leader Jose Alexandre Gusmao said Thursday the guerrillas he once led against Indonesian troops are living in squalid conditions and could revolt.

Hundreds of former guerrilla fighters, who still have their weapons, have been living for the past nine months in designated areas monitored by the United Nations.

Gusmao warned officials at an international donors' conference here that the pro-independence soldiers, known by their movement's acronym Falintil, are "almost in a state of revolt."

"If we continue to offer no support for the Falintil, relegating them to a subhuman existence, we will all pay a high political and social price," Gusmao warned.

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