Facts About East Timor

People: The majority of the 800,000 residents are indigenous. Others are immigrants from neighboring parts of Indonesia. The vast majority of East Timorese are Roman Catholic, while most newcomers are Muslim.

Geography: With an area of 5,600 square miles, East Timor is a half-island territory lying 1,250 miles east of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Its coastline is framed by beaches, rocky cliffs and coral reefs. Its interior is dominated by high and rugged
mountains.

History: Portugal abruptly ended 400 years of colonial rule in 1975. In the political vacuum, a fledgling independent government was immediately embroiled in a civil war with rival factions that supported intervention by neighboring Indonesia.

Indonesia invaded in December 1975. An estimated 200,000 people-a quarter of the population-died during the military crackdown and famine that followed. A group of separatist guerrillas fought against Indonesian troops. East Timor's Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo and exiled independence activist Jose Ramos Horta jointly won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. After President Suharto's fall in May 1998, Indonesia agreed to the holding of a U.N.-supervised ballot.

Economy: Coffee is the main cash crop. East Timor could lay claim to Indonesia's share of the Timor gap oil and gas field that lies in water between Timor Island and Australia.

Ballot Questions: East Timorese voters at home and abroad were asked two questions on the ballot: "Do you accept the proposed special autonomy for East Timor within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia?" or "Do you reject the proposed special autonomy for East Timor, leading to East Timor's separation from Indonesia?" Ballots were counted by U.N. electoral officers.

Sources: AP, CNN

Questions

1. What does the writer mean when he says that "the tragedy is that everybody saw East Timor's violence coming"?
2. What theories account for the violence in Dili?

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