Word: fretilin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Indonesia immediately decried the choice of Ramos-Horta. In 1975, at the age of 25, the former newsman became "foreign minister" of a government formed by the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor, or Fretilin, which slaughtered card-holding members of four other political parties following Portugal's withdrawal from its former colony. Indonesia's invasion the following month sent most Fretilin leaders into exile. Ramos-Horta advocates Fretilin's peace plan: a two-year pullback of Indonesian troops and an eventual U.N.-sponsored referendum on self-rule. "We, the East Timorese, are offering an olive branch to Indonesia...
...role in suppressing discussion at the United Nations for this bistant breach of international law, but also continue its military aid to Indonesia. At the time, the stated purpose of the Indonesian invasion of this Portuguese colony was to "stabilize" it and prevent the allegedly leftist liberation front FRETILIN (a Portuguese acronym) from taking over power after the Portuguese had started the decolonization process in 1974. This "stabilization" process has since involved 100,000 to 200,000 civilian deaths caused by the actual fighting and even more by the large famines which came as a result of indiscriminate bombings...
September 26, 1975: "Vastly increased Indonesian involvement is now proposed: special forces troops, armed with weapons that cannot be traced to Jakarta will be used. Malaysia has reportedly agreed in principle to supply such weapons...recent press reports from Jakarta that claim FRETILIN forces crossed the border and attacked Indonesian Timor may have been released by military officers in an effort to build up the pressure on Suharto...
October 31, 1975: "Despite increasingly visible military activities, Jakarta continues to deny its involvement and attributes all fighting to anti-FRETILIN Timorese. President Suharto remains concerned about international reaction and continues to make an effort to deny any territorial ambitions...
...Indonesian invasion of East Timor is not a matter of the past. FRETILIN is still fighting and has actually gained strength. A large surprise attack on the capital Dili took place in 1981 killing many Indonesian soldiers and destroying the local TV station. And documents smuggled out of East Timor late last year indicate that FRETILIN troops have reorganized and number about 6,500. According to The Washington Post (January 16, 1983), this renewed strength of FRETILIN could be corroborated by independent reports of recent refugees and letters from East Timor. All of these reports indicate that guerrilla activity...