---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- The Australian 16 Aug 99=20 Gusmao captures spirit of Timor rally >From SIAN POWELL in Dili HE is imprisoned in Jakarta, but resistance leader Xanana Gusmao dominated=20 the first official independence rally in Dili yesterday. His face was=20 everywhere =96 on T-shirts, on badges, on posters and on an enormous paintin= g=20 bearing the words "the symbol of the East Timorese struggle".=20 Although unable to be there in person, his spirit boomed out in a recorded=20 message to more than 4000 wildly excited independence supporters.=20 "I know that most of the people of East Timor will do their best for their=20 future," he said, "because we have waited for a long time for this=20 opportunity."=20 Gusmao was speaking on the second day of the official campaign period for th= e=20 UN-sponsored vote on independence, due to take place on August 30.=20 The autonomy movement, which prefers a wide-ranging autonomy under the=20 Indonesian umbrella to nationhood, on Saturday had its first official rally.=20 The 500-strong gathering, ironically at Independence Field, heard speeches=20 and singing. Many of the supporters wore the red and white Indonesian flag.=20 But it was yesterday's independence rally that seemed to generate emotion,=20 even though Gusmao's speech was conciliatory rather than inflammatory.=20 "I want reconciliation to continue between people at the top and people at=20 the bottom," he said. "We will be independent but the East Timorese people=20 should also have peace, justice and unity."=20 The opening of the headquarters for the East Timorese Council for National=20 Resistance (CNRT) provided the launching pad for the rally and the CNRT,=20 which many regard as a government-in-waiting, was feted with music, a=20 priest's blessing, traditional dancing and cries of joy.=20 People were packed into every crevice of the courtyard, dozens were perched=20 in two massive fig trees and lines of children stood and sat on adjoining=20 walls. A centrepiece of the occasion was the raising of the CNRT flag; the=20 first time it has flown freely, and openly, in East Timor.=20 Manuel Carrascalao, the prominent independence activist who fled East Timor=20 earlier this year after his house, was surrounded by militia and his=20 18-year-old son killed was there as a show of support for the CNRT. He had=20 returned from Jakarta on Saturday to take part and the shouts of welcome wer= e=20 heard from all sides.=20 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 15 Aug 1999 jam 19:54:04 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
