Biskop Belo takker for den internasjonale intervensjonen

JERUSALEM, NOV 2 (ZENIT).- During a traditional ceremony dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, Nobel Peace Prize winner, expressed his gratitude to the international community for having rescued the people of East Timor.

During the celebrations for the Virgin, which were postponed earlier this year because of the violence, Bishop Belo said that if the international peace force had not arrived in September, "everyone" would have died at the hands of militiamen and Indonesian soldiers.

"On behalf of the Timor community, we thank [U.N. Secretary General] Kofi Annan and the international community for your presence in East Timor. We would never have survived without you," the Bishop said in the presence of thousands of faithful.

East Timor fell into chaos during a campaign of killings and expulsions led by militia and Indonesian soldiers when the August 30 referendum voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia, a country that invaded and annexed this part of the Island in December, 1975.

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Zenit