BISHOP BELO PROMOTES TIMOR'S RECONSTRUCTION
Church Organizes Distribution of International Food Aid
DILI, OCT 6 (ZENIT).- Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo was forced to leave Dili one month ago, on September 7, when militias and Indonesian soldiers destroyed his residence. He has now returned to be "amidst the people."
"I hope my return will encourage those Timorese who live in terror, hiding in caves and forests, to return to their homes," he said.
Bishop Belo returned to Timor, from Darwin, Australia, on October 5. He was accompanied by the Portuguese commissar, who is supporting the transition in East Timor, by Portuguese Maria Barroso, president of the Red Cross, and by other personalities.
The Bishop landed this morning in Dili, the capital of East Timor, at 8:50 a.m. local time. He immediately boarded a helicopter of the INTERFET international force, to visit the other Catholic Bishop of Timor, Basilio do Nascimento. Hundreds of people arrived at the Church in Baucau to greet him.
As soon as he arrived, Bishop Belo met with Bishop do Nascimento, with the Portuguese Commissar, Fr. Vitor Melicias, and with the leader of Timor's resistance, Manuel Carrascalao.
Aid to Refugees
Thousands of refugees in East Timor waited in long lines under a hot sun yesterday to receive the largest consignment of food since the arrival of the multi-national peace force 15 days ago. The humanitarian agencies distributed 13,000 sacks of rice, enough to feed 60,000 people for a month.
Hundreds of Timorese came down from the nearby mountains where they have been in hiding for weeks, while others came from camps with flimsy tents made of cane and cardboard boxes. They were in line in front of the burnt-out home of East Timor's spiritual leader, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo.
The majority of East Timor's 800,000 inhabitants lost their homes during the wave of violence unleashed by the Indonesian army and their allied militias, after the August 30 referendum, which supported independence from Indonesia.
Representatives of the Catholic Church and the principal pro-independence group of East Timor drew up a list of the neediest families and gave sacks of rice to the women who had registered.
The U.N. plans to have refugees begin to return to their homes in East Timor this Friday, Kris Janowski, the spokesman for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, said.
Meanwhile, the commanders of the peace force are trying to persuade both the pro-Indonesia militias and the pro-independence guerrillas to lay down their arms.
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Zenit