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- Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
- Path: sparky!uunet!europa.asd.contel.com!darwin.sura.net!udel!wupost!mont!pencil.cs.missouri.edu!rich
- From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
- Subject: Timor: US Catholics: Free Xanana
- Message-ID: <1992Dec15.070349.17407@mont.cs.missouri.edu>
- Followup-To: alt.activism.d
- Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Sender: news@mont.cs.missouri.edu
- Nntp-Posting-Host: pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Organization: PACH
- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 07:03:49 GMT
- Approved: map@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
- Lines: 43
-
- /** reg.easttimor: 319.1 **/
- ** Written 8:02 pm Dec 11, 1992 by cscheiner in cdp:reg.easttimor **
- From: Charles Scheiner <cscheiner>
- Subject: US Catholic Conference: Free Them!
-
- /* Written 2:25 pm Dec 11, 1992 by apakabar@igc.apc.org in igc:reg.indonesia */
- /* ---------- "US Catholic Conference: Free Them!" ---------- */
-
- According to a December 11 story by Religious News Service (RNS)
- datelined Washington, the U.S. Catholic Conference is pressing the
- Indonesian government over the fate of East Timorese resistance
- leader, Jose Alexandre Gusmao.
- In a letter to Indonesian Ambassador Abdul Rachman Ramly,
- Archbishop John Roach of Minneapolis-St. Paul called on the
- Indonesians to release Gusmao and other Timorese resistance leaders
- immediately.
- Gusmao, popularly known as Xanana, is the key figure in the the
- East Timor resistance movement.
- Talks regarding the status of East Timor, part of the island of
- Timor northwest of Australia, are scheduled to begin Dec. 16 under the
- auspices of United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali.
- The island was formally ruled by the Dutch and the Portuguese. At
- independence, the western, Dutch-ruled part of the island became a
- province of Indonesia but the East Timorese sought independence. In
- 1975, the Indonesians invaded East Timor.
- Since the 1975 invasion, an armed resistnce movement, seeking
- independence from Indonesia, has erupted in large-scale violence. A
- year ago, Indonesian troops massacred dozens of demonstrators at a
- Catholic cemetery.
- "You are well aware that the situation of East Timor and the
- behavior of Indonesian forces there continue to be of deep concern to
- many in this country," Roach said in his letter to the Indonesian
- envoy.
- "Those of us who consider ourselves both friends of Indonesia and
- supported the legitimate rights of the Timorese people would be very
- pleased to learn of the immediate release of these detained persons,"
- Roach said.
- Last month, marking the anniversary of the massacre, Roach called
- on the U.S. government to pay greater attention to the plight of the
- East Timorese.
-
- ** End of text from cdp:reg.easttimor **
-
-