Timor rebels surrender

JAKARTA (Reuter) - About 200 East Timorese rebels surrendered in the former Portuguese colony at the weekend, responding to the Indonesian government's offer of clemency, Antara news agency reported.

The rebels pledged loyalty to Jakarta, which annexed East Timor in 1976 a year after the departure of its Portuguese colonial rulers. The United Nations does not recognise the annexation. 'They also said they were ready to be punished if in future they violated (East Timor's) integration (with Indonesia),' Joao Ximenes, of the rebel group Fretilin, was quoted as saying. The statement was made to local government and military officials in Bacau, near the East Timor capital of Dili, where Fretilin's chief, Xanana Gusmao, was captured last month.