April 11, 1999
Web posted at: 8:43 a.m. EDT (1243 GMT)

LIQUISA, East Timor (Reuters) -- East Timor's spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo appealed for calm on Sunday at a mass outside a church where he said 25 people were killed in a massacre by pro-Jakarta forces.

In another part of the bloodied territory, militias opposing independence held a third mass rally to prepare for war.

A few hours earlier Belo suspended a church-backed attempt to negotiate between the militias and pro-independence groups.

At the service, Belo called for calm in the wake of the April 6 killings in Liquisa, 30 km (20 miles) west of the capital Dili. Estimates of the number killed range from five to 57.

"Followers of Christ, we are faced with challenges these days, but we have to strengthen our faith. For our brothers who have resorted to violence, may Jesus Christ forgive them," the Nobel peace laureate said during the mass.

Pro-integrationists threw rocks after the service, witnesses said. One man was injured in the head and required hospital treatment. Three cars were also damaged.

Around 200 people attended the mass, witnesses said, although Belo's services are normally heavily attended in the mainly Catholic territory.

"Tension remains high in Liquisa, which discouraged people from attending the mass today. There were reports the killings have taken place inside the church...that's why the mass was held outside the building," an aide to Belo said.

Belo would only resume his peace initiative, aimed at smoothing the path to a planned vote on a Jakarta offer of self-rule, when a degree of calm had been restored, the aide said.

"The mediation has been suspended indefinitely because of the violence," the aide said.

In the west of the former Portuguese colony, pro-integrationists on Sunday staged the third of several mass rallies. A militia spokesman said thousands of people took part in the rally in Zumalai, some 65 km (40 miles) south of Dili.

Pro-Jakarta militias called the show of strength in response to a call to arms by pro-independence leader Xanana Gusmao, which they have dubbed an "offer of war." Jakarta threatened on Friday to return Gusmao to prison from house arrest if he did not retract the call within a week.

On Saturday, a pro-independence activist was reported shot dead in a clash with security forces in Ermera, a few kilometers (miles) from Liquisa. Two pro-independence activists were wounded in a second clash in the same area on Saturday, the official Antara news agency said.

The Indonesian military has denied its forces were involved in recent violence. Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Sunday that Australian diplomats had visited Liquisa. The military's role in the incident was debatable, he said in a television interview.

"They clearly didn't themselves kill people but there is an argument about whether they did try to stop the fighting or they didn't do enough to try to stop the fighting," Downer said.

In a dramatic change of policy, Indonesia earlier this year said that it would be prepared to grant full independence to the territory it annexed in 1976 if the East Timorese rejected an offer of sweeping autonomy.

But this has deepened the tensions among the 800,000 East Timorese in the territory, and increased clashes. The United Nations has warned that the violence was jeopardizing a scheduled ballot on the territory's future.

Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

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