Word: timorous
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...fully pacified. Timorese such as guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize winners Jose Ramos Horta and Bishop Carlos Belo have fought for independence throughout Indonesia's occupation. Indonesia is estimated to have killed as many as 100,000 Timorese in its failed attempts to colonize East Timor...
...January of this year, Indonesia's new president, B. J. Habibie, attempted to boost his international credibility by offering East Timor a referendum on its status. In the August poll, 78 percent of the electorate chose independence, but pro-Indonesia militias ? backed by Indonesian military officers ? then launched a reign of terror against the pro-independence majority...
...Indonesia the cure or the cause of East Timor's turmoil? While the Indonesian government professes neutrality and vows that it will restore order in the territory, even its foreign minister has been forced to admit that what he called "rogue elements" of the Indonesian army are directly involved in the violence. The anti-independence militias are widely believed to have been organized, armed and in some cases even directed by members of the Indonesian military, and Indonesian troops have done nothing to restrain the militias' rampage...
...President Habibie's aides have also acknowledged that he is under intense internal pressure from forces opposed to letting go of East Timor. Those range from the former dictator Suharto and opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri to the country's all-powerful military. The military has extensive economic interests in East Timor, and the officer corps fears that allowing the territory to break away will only encourage secessionist movements across the 13,000 ethnically diverse islands that make up Indonesia...
...East Timor may also have become the battleground that will settle the struggle for power in Indonesia itself. The crisis has shown the limits of civilian authority in Jakarta ? not only is President Habibie being ignored by his armed forces, but they actually forced him to reluctantly declare martial law in the territory after the referendum result was announced. Some analysts believe that East Timor may also have become caught in the crossfire of a struggle for power between different factions within the Indonesian military itself...