<nettime> dili report

[sam@media.com.au (Sam de Silva)]

The 31st of December in Dili
(sam de silva - 01/01/00)
---------------------------------------

The official public New Years Eve celebrations organised by UNTAET and held
outside the old Governors Palace was disrupted last night. The celebrations
commenced at about 6pm with performers, musicians and pre-recorded music.

The interruption occurred around 10:30pm. A man had jumped on to the stage
and according to a witness, he yelled in Portuguese,  "This is the fault of
CNRT - why aren't people in church - people should be in church". Church
ceremonies commenced at about 10pm - and the music, which was being played
loudly, could probably be heard inside local churches.

It is unknown whether UNTAET organisers were aware of the local traditions
- but after the interruption - the music was turned down for a while and
the crowd outside the old Governor's Palace reduced significantly. But as
midnight approached people started to gather again.

The CNRT party was going on at the same time and it was held at a local
stadium - very close to the old Governors Palace.  This was a less public
event, and most of the media who weren't taking the night off seemed to be
in attendance.  Xanana distributed presents to children, and the whole
event appeared to be quite formal.  It was thought that at 11:15pm, the
CNRT party would take the short walk to the old Governors Palace and that
Xanana would be involved in counting down to the new century. But as
midnight struck, there was no Xanana in front of the public - and UNTAET
staff initiated the count down from the stage.

Later, Xanana did attend the public celebrations briefly. He made a speech
and at the conclusion of it began to walk away but stopped and viva'ed
Timor Loro Sae. Then he was quickly taken away. The crowd was kept well out
of his reach - but other than the foreigners,  there didn't seem to be many
people overly enthusiastic to approach him.

In the late afternoon of the 31st, there was another incident. Military
helicopters hovered low over a house in the Parol neighbourhood in Dili. It
is unclear at this time what exactly happened. Apparently the helicopters
were part of an INTERFET operation to arrest a suspected militia man. But
there are differing stories as to the true background of the arrested
person. We will have to get the real story from INTERFET.

At an INTERFET press conference earlier in the week, many journalists asked
General Crosgrove whether  trouble was expected. His response was that
INTERFET will be on a high state of alert during the 31st night  to ensure
that the East Timorese people can peacefully celebrate the Indonesia-free
New Year.

It is difficult to say how the East Timorese feel. At the public party,
most watched the dancing but some did take part. They certainly seemed
curious in what was going. Everyone wished each other when the New Year hit..

There are other interesting aspects about the public party. Falintil
members appeared to be responsible for crowd control and they spent a lot
of time keeping the local East Timorese from getting too close to dancing
spaces mostly occupied by foreigners. CIVPOL and INTERFET were also around
- but their presense was not that obvious.



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