While Portugal and the U.N. have pressed Indonesia to allow a referendum vote on independence for East Timor, militia groups in Timor have been terrorizing pro-independence supporters. Agence France Presse reports that the Indonesian special forces squad known as Kopassus is behind the militia attacks in East Timor. Militia chiefs have boasted of their ties to Kopassus and witnesses have described truckloads of militia members escorted by Indonesian security forces attacking pro-independence supporters in Dili. In an eerie scene reminiscent of the terror that reigned under Suharto, reporters asked Basilio Araujo, a supporter of the militias, how the militias were able to identify pro-independence supporters. He replied: "During the reformasi period (following Suharto's fall last May), they made it clear what they were thinking. Now we have lists." So far this "total cleansing" campaign (as it's been called by militia supporters) has led to the slaughter of several village chiefs and the liquidation of whole villages by the militias. On April 17th, several militia groups converged on the capital city of Dili, staged a rally in front of the Governor's office calling for the murder of pro-independence supporters, and then went on a killing spree throughout the city. The death toll is still being tallied. So far, NATO and the U.S. have shown no interest in this conflict.--Maria Tomchick. From: "A campaign to liquidate the resistance in East Timor," AFP, 4/20/99; "Freedom slaughtered," by Lindsay Murdoch, Sydney Morning Herald, 4/19/99; and a press release by the Dili-based human rights group Yayasan Hak, dated 4/17/99.

Diplomats based in Albania are complaining that truckloads of aid intended for the Kosovo refugees is being intercepted by local mafia groups and sold on the black market. One diplomat said: "The government has no longer been in control of the north of the country for the past two years. There are areas where local authorities and the mafia melt into one." Two years ago, the local populations of northern and southern Albania rioted against the central government and stole over a million light weapons from military barracks. Entire regions are now under the control of mafia clans. The problem is so bad that several palettes of supplies dropped by U.S. Air Force helicopters have been stolen out from under the noses of U.S. ground personnel.--M.T. From: "Albanian aid truckloads 'evaporate' into Mafia hands," AFP, 4/20/99.

More than 50,000 people demonstrated in the German capital of Bonn on April 17th in support of the release of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan. The crowd came from all over Europe to spend the day calling for a political solution to Turkey's unacknowledged "Kurdish problem." The Kurds, promised a homeland early this century, have been fighting the governments of Turkey, Syria, and Iraq for an independent state off an on throughout this century. Ocalan is one of the leaders of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms in 1984. Since then, over 37,000 people--most of them Kurdish rebels--have died in the struggle for independence. Abdullah Ocalan, who was forcibly extradited from Kenya in February and sent to a Turkish prison, has been charged with treason and the death of all 37,000 people killed in the war. The Turkish government is seeking the death penalty for him. In the meantime, recent elections in Turkey have placed several members of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party in office in six large cities in southeast Turkey, which has a predominantly Kurdish population. Turkish government prosecutors have sought to dissolve the People's Democracy Party because of its support for talks to end the civil war.--M.T. From: "50,000 Join Kurd Protest in Germany," AP, 4/17/99; "Result in Turkish Election Reflect Kurdish War's Fault Line," Stephen Kinzer, NYT, 4/20/99; and "Prosecutors Indict Kurdish Leader," AP, 4/20/99.

Proving that seven years of free-market capitalism can destroy a country's economy faster than 70 years of socialism, Russia declared another bond default on April 20th--the third in less than a year. This time it was $1.3 billion in dollar-denominated Min-Fins (Ministry of Finance bonds) that were issued to companies and individuals whose hard-currency accounts were frozen in 1991. Last August, Russia defaulted on $40 billion of domestic debt, then missed a $352 million payment on its foreign debt to the London Club (of bankers and financiers) in December. It has also fallen behind on $2 billion of debt owed to the Paris Club. At least one-third of Russia's estimated $150 billion in foreign debt has been racked up in just the past ten years under free-market policies.--M.T. Seattle P-I, 4/21/99, A5.