EAST TIMOR: INDEPENDENCE RESULTS - VIOLENCE ERUPTS (2)

(4 Sep 1999) Natural Sound
East Timor has slipped into violent chaos after the United Nations announced that the territory has voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia.
Within hours of the announcement, pro-Jakarta militia went on a rampage, roaming the streets of the capital Dili, as well as towns such as Los Palos and Same, firing weapons.
Indonesia's security forces have done almost nothing to stop the violence.
There have been unconfirmed reports of massacres in the countryside, over a hundred people huddled in a church in Same may have been killed by pro-Jakarta militia.
Residents of Dili are staying in their homes, while local and foreign United Nations staff have been evacuated from several areas.
Pro-Jakarta militia are on the rampage again in East Timor, after the announcement of a vote for independence from Indonesia.
An armed militiaman fired shots at the Mahkota hotel on Saturday, where a few of the remaining journalists are staying in Dili.
The Mahkota hotel is also where Ian Martin, the head of the U-N mission to East Timor is staying.
The armed militiaman was lead away by government troops, but his weapon was not confiscated and he was let go.
The same pro-Jakarta militiaman returned to the Mahkota hotel later on Saturday and this time stormed into the hotel lobby, again he was lead away but suffered no repercussions.
Journalists staying at the hotel say they're being targetted by the anti-independence militia.
Some are leaving Dili and on Saturday police escorted them out of the capital to the airport.
They were put onto the back of a truck and told to keep their heads down to prevent being fired at.
However other journalists have decided to stay and are barricading themselves into the hotel.
There, journalists and leaders such as Leandro Isaac have been talking with Indonesian police and demanding to know why more is not being done to protect international media and locals holed up in the hotel.
Due to the incredibly dangerous situation the APTN camera crew have not been able to leave the Mahkota hotel.
From the hotel's roof, they filmed some of the mayhem in the capital.
The violence continues despite the arrival of an additional 14-hundred troops from Jakarta to restore order in East Timor, but the army is widely believed to support the militia, though the military denies it.
While Indonesian troops are maintaining a heavy presence in Dili, they're quite clearly doing nothing to disarm the militia roaming the streets.
Despite the violence and chaos all around, one Indonesian soldier remains unperturbed by it all and managed to find time for a sleep on Saturday afternoon in the middle of the street.

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