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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1999)
Thousands flee East Timor as violence continues to rise DILI, Indonesia (AP) - Driven by fear, killings and army gunfire, East Timorese jammed onto ships and into trucks Tuesday as their homeland sank further into chaos behind them. With an estimated 30,000 people having fled the provincial capital in the past few days, the streets of the city were empty save for looters and smoldering fires. But a relative calm appeared to return to Dili early Wednesday. U.N. officials said staff members were able to leave their besieged compound and drive around the city to assess damage for the first time since Sunday. “We are not intending any more evacuations. We plan to keep our people there,” U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said from Darwin, Australia, where many staff members have evacu ated. Despite the improvement, the situa tion remained tense with sporadic gun fire heard throughout the night, though far less than in previous days, Wimhurst said. On Tuesday, officials from the World Bank to the White House to the Vatican urged a halt to the shooting rampages and terror that erupted last week when East Timorese voted to break away from Indonesia. While leaders from East Timor, Australia, New Zealand and other nations pushed harder for an interna tional peacekeeping force to intervene, the U.N. Security Council said Tuesday such talk was premature. Council mem bers said first they wanted to hear back from five U.N. ambassadors sent to Indonesia to persuade President B.J. Habibie to rein in his military - said by witnesses to be orchestrating the car nage along with anti-independence militias. The group, led by Namibia’s U.N. Ambassador Martin Andjaba' was slat ed to arrive Wednesday morning. “They’re going to make their own assessment of the extent to which the Indonesians are willing and capable of living up to their ... security commit ments,” said Canada’s U.N. Ambassador Robert Fowler. The Clinton administration agreed. “Once they’ve made a judgment on that... we will, as will many countries, take a look at whether we participate,” said White House press secretary Joe Lockhart. The State Department sounded more foreboding. “Many have been killed. Indonesian military and police forces have allowed and in some cases partici pated in these abuses,” said spokesman James P. Rubin, adding U.S. / A it- ' The U.S. can stop this in a minute if they applied serious pressure on Indonesia. Every hour they wait is more people killed - East Timorese election observer Indonesian relations depended upon Indonesia quelling the violence and supporting the results of the U.N. administered referendum. The increasingly powerless Indonesian government imposed mar tial law, which includes the authority to search without warrants, a curfew to keep people off the streets and “the shooting on sight of people who go against the curfew,” said Foreign Minister Ali Alatas. The restrictions went into effect Tuesday. One election observer said she overheard Indonesia military officials over the radio as they ordered militias to set up roadblocks, pull U.N. observers out of their vehicles and execute them. Kristin Sundefl of the East Timor Action Network said it was imperative that the United Nations send troops to East Timor, which is home to an esti mated 900,000 people. “People are being killed en masse,” she said. “The U.S. can stop this in a minute if they applied serious pressure on Indonesia. Every hour they wait is more people killed.” Indonesia’s Defense Minister Gen. Wiranto rejected the possibility of allowing armed peacekeepers into East Timor. In Geneva, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson urged the Commission on Human Rights to consider holding a special session on East Timor. The com mission has held three such sessions in the past, on the former Yugoslavia in 1992 and 1993 and on Rwanda in 1994. Witnesses said the military was working in full cooperation with the militias, overseeing attacks and forcing thousands of people to march toward Dili’s port and board boats bound for elsewhere in Indonesia. However, a spokesman for Indonesia’s U.N. Mission in New York painted another picture. “The fact is that many people would like to leave East Timor because of the situation and (the soldiers are) helping them,” Tatang Razak said. “Right now, now what is happening in East Timor is exodus. So I don’t think the Indonesian military is forcing people to go out.” ASUN plans ‘mini-retreat’ at sponsor Griesen’s home From staff reports The Association of Students of the University of Nebraska will meet£0 minutes later than usual tonight. But senators will actually get together an hour earlier for a “mini retreat.” The ASUN senate meeting will start at 8 p.m., instead of 6:30 p.m., so the retreat can be held at the home of ASUN ■ sponsor Janies Griesen, UNL vice chancellor for student affairs. ASUN members are meeting at Griesen’s at 5:30 p.m. to discuss issues at length - something they usually don’t have time to do at normal meetings. Marlene Beyke, ASUN director of development, said goal-setting will be the main focus. The regular weekly ASUN meeting will be held in the Nebraska Union at 8 p.m. I Suffer from Fall Allergies and Asthma? ' Males/Females Age 15 or Older who are using an inhaler such as Ventolin, Proventil, or Albuterol are needed for a Fall Allergen and Asthma Research Study. This Study consists of 5 visits over six weeks. Participants will receive FREE Study-Related Exams, Study Related Medications and Compensation. For more Information, contact: * Kelli or Marge at 464-6139. Allergy, Asthma, and Imrtiunolgy Associates, PC 600 North Cotner, Suite 208 Lincoln, NE 68505 immunoi-OOv The relative calm was reported Wednesday near the U.N. compound, where the numbers of refugees seeking refuge there had dropped from the thou sands to about 1,000, officials said. On Tuesday, officials reported that three babies had been bom overnight in the compound, including a boy who was named Pedro UNAMET Rodrigues. His middle name is the acronym for the U.N. Assistance Mission in East Timor. One East Timorese man who fled to v the compound described a terrifying scene at the port: “There were thousands of people at the dock and more arriving in columns on foot with Indonesian soldiers forcing them at gunpoint and firing above their heads,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The United Nations estimates that 150,000 to 200,000 people have become refugees in East Timor since the election. East Timor’s spiritual leader, Bishop Carlos Belo, fled after militias aided by troops attacked his refugee filled compound and burned his home in Dili on Monday. Speaking in Darwin, Australia, Belo said his people “were unable to fight the waves of violence. The inter national1 community should act imme diately to protect the people. We feel that we are no longer safe.” Many of Indonesia’s top generals are loathe to give up East Timor, whose people voted last week in a U.N.-super vised referendum to separate from Indonesia. The Indonesian army invad ed East Timor in 1975 as it was gaining independence from Portugal. Many generals fear other restive provinces may be encouraged to break away if East Timor goes free. Hurricane Greg hits Baja California ■ The relatively weak storm forces more than 1,000 people into shelters. CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico (AP) - Hurricane Greg lashed the tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsu la Tuesday, forcing hundreds of peo ple to flee flooded homes and para lyzing the area’s sports fishing cen ter. Heavy rains associated with-Greg also flooded low-lying areas in the mainland states of Colima, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit and Sinaloa. More than 1,000 people spent the night in shelters here and in San Jose del Cabo, but many returned to their homes early this morning when the rain eased temporarily, although res cue agencies warned the danger was not over. At around 8 a.m. EDT, Greg’s center was located 35 miles south of Cabo San Lucas and moving toward the northwest at about 6 mph. Maximum sustained winds were just above hurricane level at 75 mph, and hurricane-force and tropical storm force winds exJende^d outward 85 miles from the center. Greg’s center was due to brush past the tip of the peninsula later in the day. “People think we are kidding, but there is still danger,” state civil pro tection volunteer Heriberto MUrua said at one of the shelters. Nelly Avila Abarca, 32, a house wife who spent the night at a shelter in a grammar school with her three small children, was one of the few who decided to stay. “For me, I’m not worried. But I’m staying for the little ones.” A total of 117 people spent the night at the school, but only 11 remained Tuesday. In Jalisco state, around 400 peo ple spent the night in shelters in the coast town of Tomatlan, 400 miles southwest of Mexico City, and another 450 from two towns about 55 miles farther south. Lincoln’s Karaoke Hot Spot Thursdays-Sfeturdays 9:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. -----_ MAX^~st A^rL^iv* 4777444 I MAX TAN SOUTH V* • 40TH & OLD CHENE'l ^ ,, 420-6454 20 units aaB at Each Location! » M® . -r •. And now you can visit your money anytime you like. 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