The EU yesterday called for the "immediate release" of the East Timorese rebel leader, Xanana Gusmao, calling it an "essential factor for success" of a referendum on the territory's future. In a declaration by the German presidency, the EU "warmly welcomed" the signing of the agreement between Indonesia and Portugal to hold the poll on August 8th. It called the step "decisive progress" towards resolving the conflict, and praised the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan.
Gusmao is serving a 20-year sentence for armed rebellion against the state, and is being held under house arrest in central Jakarta.
The EU called again on all parties to renounce violence, and held the Indonesian government responsible for "maintaining peace and guaranteeing the security of all" in East Timor.
David Shanks adds:
Attacks on pro-independence supporters in East Timor continued yesterday, adding two more killings to dozens over recent weeks. And a Washington Post report has said 20,000 Timorese separatists had been coralled "as virtual hostages" by pro-Indonesian militias.
The report, quoting "relief workers, human rights groups, Western military analysts and independent" sources, said the 20,000 had been herded from their mountain villages to the northern coastal town of Liquica. This village was the scene of a massacre on April 6th in which 57 people were killed as Indonesian police looked on.
The Post story described the treatment of the people in Liquica as "the most ominous sign yet that the military intends to engineer the outcome" of the August 8th referendum. "Each day the men are separated from the women, are forced to stand and sing the Indonesian national anthem and to wear red-and-white armbands and scarves, the colours of the Indonesian flag," it said.