Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.
guimaraes, portugal, may 2 (ips) -- some 200 students in this
small portuguese town held a vigil friday night to ask the ec
foreign ministers meeting here to take more action against
indonesia for the nov. 12 massacre of civilians in east timor.
the students draped a black cloth over the impressive statue of
the countess nomadona dominating the square outside the pacodos de
bracanga, the venue of the meeting may 1-2 and the place where the
portuguese state was founded.
they tied a rope around the statue and at its foot, placed a heap
of rusty cans marked 'rest in peace, ali alatas'. ''in portuguese,
the name of the indonesian foreign minister, ali alatas,
translates as 'there are cans over there','' explained paolo
borges, one of the students.
folks songs and dances by east timorese refugees were
interspersed with chants of 'livre timor' (free timor).
borges said that like many young portuguese, the students of
guimaraes were disappointed at the ec's failure to implement
sanctions against jakarta after indonesian troops massacred
civilians in the east timorese capital of dili.
''at a time when the ec is supporting self-determination of
peoples in eastern europe, they should do the same in east
timor,'' said borges.
the students also expressed disappointment that few of the
journalists interviewed at the guimaraes meeting by portuguese
television said they would be writing about the situation in east
timor.
for borges, as far as raising the east timor issue was concerned,
it was now or never, since the portuguese presidency of the ec
ends at the end of june.
the european community is still asking for an independent
international inquiry into the dili incident, but stopped short of
imposing economic sanctions.
the netherlands, however, pushed ahead with bilateral sanctions
against the jakarta government over dili, and indonesia responded
by cutting development cooperation ties with its former colonial
master.
despite the students' action, the ec foreign ministers failed to
discuss the issue of east timor at the meeting.
(end/ips/ip/dp/ln/92)