---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press August 22, 1999 E Timor Bishop Says Church Won't Enter Politics - Report DILI, Indonesia (AP)--With eight days left before East Timor's vote on independence from Muslim-dominated Indonesia, the territory's spiritual leader and Nobel laureate said Sunday that the Roman Catholic Church would stay out of politics whatever the outcome. Bishop Carlos Belo, the co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, is a leading figure in trying to stop bloodshed ahead of the U.N.-supervised Aug. 30 ballot. Widely revered in the half-island territory, he is attempting to reconcile factions for and against breaking away from Indonesia. "The church will not seize power," Indonesia's official Antara news agency quoted Belo as saying. "It has no desire at all to share earthly power." The vast majority of East Timor's 800,000 people are Catholics, while almost 90% of the 210 million-strong Indonesian population overall is Muslim. In the latest violence, pro-and anti-independence supporters fought in Ainaro, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Dili, on Saturday, police spokesman Capt. Widodo said. Many Indonesians use only one name. One man was wounded when the office run by independence activists was damaged, along with a house occupied by U.N. personnel. The ballot will give East Timor's people the choice between full independence and staying part of Indonesia as an autonomous region. Independence groups predict the vast majority of Timorese will choose to break away from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975, triggering decades of civil strife and guerrilla warfare. Indonesian police and security forces, for years accused of human rights abuses and atrocities, are responsible for law and order. "People in this region are in rival political groups, suspecting each other and even killing their own brothers," Belo said, urging reconciliation. "There can be no peace without sincere unity," said Belo. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 23 Aug 1999 jam 07:24:31 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
