- Title: EAST TIMOR/INDONESIA: EAST TIMORESE MARK FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE.
- Date: 30th August 2000
- Summary: DILI, EAST TIMOR (AUGUST 30, 2000) (REUTERS) 1. GV: WIDE OF CHURCH MASS 0.05 2. GV: NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE BISHOP CARLOS BELO WALKING TOWARDS ALTAR 0.10 3. MV: WIDE OF EAST TIMORESE SINGING, PRAYING DURING MASS 0.19 4. CU: CLOSEUP OF OLD WOMAN CRYING 0.31 5. MV/GV: BELO PRESIDING MASS/ VARIOUS OF MASS (3 SHOTS) 0.52 6. GV: WIDE OF EAST TIMORESE WALKING TO CEMETERY (3 SHOTS) 1.06 7. GV: WIDE OF PRAYER WITH NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE JOSE RAMOS-HORTA STANDING NEXT TO AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ALEXANDER DOWNER 1.14 8. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) HORTA SAYING "May they rest in peace, those who risked their lives so that East Timor can be free. Those who survived them receive the bolder responsibility to rebuild East Timor, the country that is worth the sacrifice of so many." 1.47 9. MV: FAMILY PRAYING 1.53 10. CU/MV: CLOSEUP OF CANDLES/ WOMAN WEEPING/ FAMILY PRAYING (4 SHOTS) 2.14 11. SCU: U.N. TROOP PLAYING BAGPIPE 2.20 12. MV: WOMAN THROWING FLOWER 2.28 13. MV/GV: WIDE OF DOWNER LAYING DOWN WREATH (2 SHOTS) 2.40 14. WIDE OF GATHERING IN FRONT OF U.N. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE 15. GV/PAN: DOWNER WALKING TO PODIUM 2.56 16. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) DOWNER SAYING "I say to you today the people of East Timor that you can count on the the Australians to help you build a peaceful, democratic and independent country." 3.07 17. MV: MORE OF PEOPLE LISTENING 3.13 18. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Tetum) INDEPENDENCE HERO XANANA GUSMAO SAYING "Now we are at the bottom, and we are preoccupied with different types of parties, but most importantly we must all work together to rebuild our country with all parties, which is how we can bring our nation together for the future" 3.33 19. GV: WIDE OF THE CLOSING OF CNRT (NATIONAL COUNCIL OF TIMORESE RESISTANCE) CONGRESS 3.37 20. MV/CU: DELEGATES LINED UP TO CAST VOTE FOR CNRT CHAIRMAN (2 SHOTS) 3.48 15. MV/CU: VARIOUS OF ELECTION OF GUSMAO AS HEAD OF CNRT (2 SHOTS) 3.59 21. MV/CU: GUSMAO SEATED (2 SHOTS) 4.10 22. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENCE LEADER, NOBEL PEACE LAUREATE, JOSE RAMOS-HORTA, SAYING "It is a fantastic feeling but also a feeling of surreal, unreal. Only a year ago no one thought that we will be standing here as a free country. Though destroyed and devastated the spirit of the people is very much alive. You can see that despite their difficulties, they are happy that it is their very lives, they are finding food, shelter, they have recovered their freedom which was lost for twenty three years" 4.55 KUPANG, WEST TIMOR (AUGUST 30 2000) (REUTERS) 23. GV: VARIOUS PRO JAKARTA PROTESTORS ON MOTORBIKES (3 SHOTS) 5.12 24. GV: CARS WITH INDONESIAN FLAGS 5.17 25. GV: PRO-JAKARTA SUPPORTERS ON TRUCKS 5.25 26. CU: PROTESTERS WITH BANNERS 5.30 27. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa) PRO JAKARTA MILTIA FIELD COMMANDER EURICO GUTERES SAYING "I lament former President Habibie's decision to offer two options to East Timor before consulting with the Indonesian Parliament." 5.43 28. MV: PROTESTER HOLDING BANNERS READING "FREE EAST TIM(OR) FROM WHITE BANDITS" 5.48 29. CU/PAN: PROTESTER WITH PORTRAIT OF HABIBIE/ PROTESTOR SHOUTING "BURN HABIBE" 6.01 30. CU: PROTESTER HOLDING BANNERS READING "FREE EAST TIM(OR) FROM WHITE BANDITS" 6.07 31. GV: PROTESTERS LISTENING TO SPEECHES. 6.14 32. GV/GV/PAN: PROTESTERS RUNNING THROUGH PARLIAMENT GROUNDS (2 SHOTS) 6.28 33. CU: BROKEN WINDOWS 6.34 34. GV: PROTESTERS 6.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 14th September 2000 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: DILI, EAST TIMOR/ WEST TIMOR, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Reuters ID: LVAC0ELOSFP7HX6B421BYZKXEM0L
- Story Text: Emotional East Timorese have marked the first
anniversary of their overwhelming vote to end Indonesia's
often brutal rule with religious ceremonies, tributes to the
dead and hope for the future as thousands of pro-Jakarta
demonstrators took to the streets of West Timor to protest the
occasion.
Hundreds of East Timorese joined a prayer on Wednesday
(August 30) launching celebrations marking the one-year
anniversary of the U.N.-run ballot in which 80 percent of the
territory's voters chose to end Indonesian rule.
Following the church service, the group swelled to
thousands, moving towards the Santa Cruz cemetery, where in
1991 dozens were killed by Indonesian troops during a peaceful
ceremony.
"May they rest in peace, those who risked their lives so
that East Timor can be free. Those who survived them receive
the bolder responsibility to rebuild East Timor, the country
that is worth the sacrifice of so many," said Nobel peace
laureate Jose Ramos-Horta in prayers with mourning families.
Among those attending the ceremony at Santa Cruz were
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and Sergio Vieira
de Mello, the U.N. head of mission in East Timor, who later
addressed the East Timorese.
Thousands packed the field in front of the U.N.
administrative office to listen to independence leaders and
guests following the vigil at the cemetery.
Downer promised the East Timorese a long-term commitment
from Australia.
Downer said: "I say to you today the people of East
Timor that you can count on the the Australians to help you
build a peaceful, democratic and independent country."
He added that Australia had already given significant
assistance such as health, education, rural development, water
supply and sanitation.
One year ago the territory opted to end more than 23
years of rule by Jakarta of the eastern half of Timor island,
which Indonesia invaded in 1975 after colonial ruler Portugal
abruptly pulled out.
The result triggered bloody reprisals by pro-Jakarta
militias that devastated the territory, killing hundreds of
people and forced hundreds of thousands more from their homes.
Despite huge challenges faced by the newborn country,
East Timor independece hero Xanana Gusmao called on his people
to work hand in hand.
"Now we are at the bottom, and we are preoccupied with
different types of parties, but most importantly we must all
work together to rebuild our country with all parties, which
is how we can bring our nation together for the future,"
Gusmao told his followers during the rally.
Security was boosted in key areas of Dili for
Wednesday's celebrations amid fears the anniversary would
trigger a militia strike.
East Timor is now under United Nations control, with
almost 8,000 international peacekeepers trying to maintain
security in the face of increasing activity by pro-Jakarta
militias operating out of Indonesian West Timor.
Meanwhile, the congress of National Council of Timorese
Resistance (CNRT) came to a close on Wednesday with a
unanimous vote to keep independence hero Xanana Gusmao as its
chairman.
CNRT is the umbrella group which will provide the
nucleus of the first government expected next year.
During the congress, it has voted to ask foreign
soldiers to remain in the territory after the United Nations
pulls out.
As East Timor marked the occasion thousands gathered in
West Timor to protest. Waving Indonesian flags and shouting
anti-independence slogans, the protestors paraded through the
deserted streets of the West Timorese capital on motorbikes
and trucks.
The protest was led by pro-Jakarta miltia leader Eurico
Guteres and a number of his deputies
and on arrival at the local parliament a small group of
demonstrators threw stones
at the building breaking a number of windows.
In a speech to his supporters Guteres criticised
Indonesian president B.J. Habibie
who was responsible for allowing East Timorese to vote for
independence from Indonesia.
He said: "I lament former President Habibie's decision to
offer East Timor two
options before consulting with the Indonesian parliament."
Most of the protestors were former militiamen and pro -
Jakarta supporters who went on
a rampage after the independence vote, killing hundreds,
forcing thousands to flee to refugee camps in West Timor and
leaving east Timor in ruins.
About 120,000 East Timorese refugees remain in West
Timor. The United Nations estimates almost 300,000 fled to
West Timor or were forced there by the militias after the
independence vote.
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