E. Timorese in Hiding Are Told to Head Home

DARE, East Timor —  In the mile-high mountains above East Timor’s capital, amid thick forests and craggy ravines, 40,000 refugees have waited for nearly a month in resignation, wondering if it will ever again be safe for them to go home.

They can see the city of Dili far below them, spread out on a plain by the sea. And off to the east, they can see a towering statue of Jesus Christ, his arms spread as though in welcome to the nine gray Australian warships on the smooth turquoise water.

From so far away, Dili appears peaceful and picturesque. But the refugees who lived there--perhaps a quarter of the 40,000 people hiding here--know different. They know their homes are gone, because they have seen the plumes of smoke rising from Dili day after day. Still they ask the Falintil guerrillas here to whom they have entrusted their lives: “Is it safe to go home yet?”

On Tuesday, British Brig. David Richards, the 47-year-old commander of the Royal Gurkha Rifles, traveled into the mountains along a serpentine road that ends in the dusty dirt plaza of Dare to give them an answer.

“I came to tell you it is safe for your people to come back down into Dili,” he told Leandro Isaac, a Falintil leader. “When you get there, there will be food and water awaiting you.”

“My people are anxious to go home,” responded the 46-year-old Isaac, a former sergeant in the Portuguese army and a veteran guerrilla who has fought for East Timor’s independence from Indonesia for a generation. “Many have already paid with their lives. But we put our trust in you.”

Within minutes, more than 100 refugees had climbed aboard a flatbed truck and joined a convoy of Range Rovers, lugging mattresses, bags of rice, even a pet dog or two. Then they headed down the mountain toward the devastated city many had not seen since rampaging militia members sent tens of thousands of East Timorese fleeing for their lives after the territory voted Aug. 30 to seek independence from Indonesia.

Like hundreds, maybe thousands, who have preceded them in the past three days, the refugees returned to their homes with apprehension. But their repatriation marks a turning point in the U.N.-authorized multinational peacekeeping mission, launched Sept. 20 to provide security for and build the confidence of East Timor’s battered population.

In the process, Dili has started to show hints of normalcy. A few taxis and vegetable sellers have reappeared. Some streets are crowded with people during the day--although virtually every building has been destroyed and it is impossible to buy even a bar of soap or a pack of cigarettes. Gunshots have not been heard for several days.

“A few days ago, Dili was empty,” Lars Backstrom, head of a European Union delegation assessing humanitarian needs in East Timor, said Tuesday. “There wasn’t a person on the streets. Maybe that’s the news of the day. Dili is getting crowded again.”

There have been recent reports that the refugees around Dare were facing imminent starvation. But those who milled around the forlorn little town Tuesday said they had enough food and water to survive, if not lead healthy lives. East Timorese who showed up at a medical clinic set up by the Gurkhas on the steps of the Roman Catholic church were not suffering serious maladies.

In other places where the Australian-led peacekeeping force has established a presence--among them the towns of Baukau, 50 miles east of Dili, and Liquisa, 18 miles southwest of the capital--soldiers have found similar scenes. Some relief workers believe that the unfolding humanitarian crisis might turn out to be less severe than first thought, although it is undeniable that the refugees have suffered terribly and that their needs are critical.

The man most expect to become the first president of an independent East Timor, Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao, will meet in Washington today with World Bank officials to discuss plans for a joint assessment of the territory’s economic needs. U.N. agencies estimate that it will cost $135.5 million to provide adequate resources during the next six months to protect displaced East Timorese in the territory and in the neighboring Indonesian province of West Timor.

Gusmao met Tuesday in New York with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Abdullah Alatas and Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama to discuss the next steps toward the territory’s independence.

In Geneva, after a vote Monday by members of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Annan received a request that the U.N. establish a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations in East Timor.

Ian Martin, Annan’s special representative in East Timor, who was in New York for the meetings, said U.N. personnel could supply “a lot of information” that would be relevant.

His statement came as mourners in Baukau honored two Catholic nuns and seven other people who were slain Saturday in the territory’s northeast, allegedly by militia members and Indonesian soldiers.

“My son has gone so quickly. Oh, my God, he’s dead already!” Ana Maria Gusmao, the mother of a slain seminary student, cried out at Tuesday’s memorial.

Times staff writer John J. Goldman at the United Nations and Associated Press contributed to this report.