Word: timor
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Domingos Ximenes pulls off his T shirt to reveal a body that tells the story of two decades of war and suffering. On his left arm is a map of East Timor in the grip of a fist; on his right arm and across his chest tumble rough tattoos of a sacred bird, a Bible and crucifix, and a spear. In many places scars show through the faded images, souvenirs of countless battles in the bush. Four years after the end of the war against Indonesia's occupation, this former guerrilla fighter has no job and little sense of purpose...
...Unlike Aceh, East Timor no longer suffers at the often brutal hands of the Indonesian military. But now, a year after winning its freedom, this tiny nation faces a slew of daunting challenges, from constructing a viable economy to repairing lives ravaged by more than 20 years of violence and misery. None have endured more than the former members of the guerrilla group Falintil, those most responsible for liberating East Timor. For two decades these defiant fighters clung to what President Xanana Gusmao, himself a former guerrilla leader, once called the "sacred ideal" of independence. Now that they have achieved...
...government, for all its good intentions, has scant resources to ease their pain. East Timor is poor, its needs many. Of the 1,500 guerrillas who survived the war (out of some 27,000), about 600 have been absorbed into the East Timor Defense Force (F.D.T.L.), Timor's new army. The rest were too damaged in body or mind, or, like Zacarias de Fatima, considered too old. Average life expectancy in East Timor is just 57, so at 51, De Fatima should be a grandfather. Instead he is a first-time father, belatedly resuming the life he abruptly gave...
...Letter from East Timor...
...ACQUITTED. BRIGADIER GENERAL TONO SURATMAN, 51, former commander of the Indonesian military in East Timor during the lead-up to a plebiscite on independence in 1999, of alleged human-rights violations; in Jakarta. Suratman was the 12th accused officer to be set free in a series of highly publicized trials...