A mangy goat draped in a crude Indonesian flag saved an East Timorese family of six from a grisly death last week. When the militiamen of the Besi Merah Putih--Red and White Iron--came to the home of a goatherd in the village of Liquica, they offered him an ultimatum: he and his wife would be beheaded and his four children disemboweled if he didn't display loyalty to Jakarta. The goatherd wasted no time. "My wife quickly made this bandeira [flag] from two old shirts," he recalls. The bloodthirsty mob was mollified, for the moment at least.

Intimidation has been a tragic fact of life in East Timor since its forcible 1975 annexation by Indonesia, but the sharp escalation of brutality this month has even battle-weary locals reeling in horror. Since April 1, as many as 200 people have been slaughtered on both sides of a worsening conflict between pro-independence groups and a dozen ragtag pro-Indonesia militias, like Besi Merah Putih and Aitarak (Thorn). The militias--gangs of unemployed laborers allegedly backed by the Indonesian military's weapons, money and food--aim to derail an integration-or-independence ballot promised by Jakarta for the restive province in July.

As East Timor teetered on the verge of a full-blown civil war last week, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie came up with a plan that might represent the province's last chance for peace. After some prompting from United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Habibie promised to create an administrative commission, including detained independence leader Xanana Gusmao, to restore law and order to the former Portuguese colony before the July poll. Under house arrest in Jakarta, Gusmao seemed conciliatory, qualifying his earlier cry to pro-independence supporters to arm against the militias. "I am obliged to continue to ask that the defenseless people of East Timor refuse to allow themselves to be slaughtered like animals," he said. "But I renew my appeal for peace, dialogue and reconciliation," he says.

Habibie hopes his proposed 67-member commission will provide the platform for peace: in addition to Gusmao, it will include representatives of the pro-integration forces, the Catholic Church, military and police, among others. Gusmao supports the idea but has not yet stated if he will participate, though he will be the one appointing pro-independence members. The commission is expected to set a date for both sides to put down their weapons. The warring parties have greeted the plan with skepticism. Domingos Policarpo, spokesman of the Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice, a pro-integration lobby, says it will succeed only if the independence forces disarm first. "If we see that the other side is willing to put down their arms, we will of course act accordingly," he says. Bonar Tigor, a close associate of Gusmao's, insists pro-independence forces are prepared to put down their arms. "If rights violations continue after disarmament, then ABRI will be in the spotlight and have to take responsibility," he says, using the Indonesian acronym for the military.

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