Timorese Groups Vow to Keep Peace
Rival armed factions in East Timor agreed Friday to surrender their weapons and maintain peace in the bloodied territory ahead of a U.N.-sponsored ballot on its future scheduled for Aug. 8.
Both parties “agreed to promote order and security and a conducive peace,” said a statement signed by resistance leader Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao and pro-Indonesia leader Domingos Soares.
A U.N. source had said that a short postponement of the planned vote on autonomy or independence for the former Portuguese colony appeared increasingly likely due to logistical and security problems.
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