Interfet clarifies 'hot-pursuit' policy<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (Agencies): International forces in East
\nTimor on Saturday reserved the right to return fire into West
\nTimor if under attack from across the border.<\/p>\n
But a spokesman for the force striving to restore order to
\nEast Timor suggested foreign troops would stop short of pursuing
\nmilitias into the neighboring Indonesian-ruled province.<\/p>\n
\"Our mandate is quite clear. We're here to provide security in
\nEast Timor. That task actually stops at the border,\" Col. Mark
\nKelly told reporters in the East Timorese capital, Dili.<\/p>\n
The international force (Interfet) has a UN mandate to quell
\nthe bloodshed that engulfed East Timor after it voted
\noverwhelmingly on August 30 for independence from Indonesia.<\/p>\n
But the pro-Indonesia militias responsible for much of the
\nviolence have retreated into West Timor since the Australian-led
\nforce arrived in Dili on Sept. 20. There are now fears the
\nmilitias plan to mount cross-border raids.<\/p>\n
\"We do not pursue across the border...,\" Kelly said.<\/p>\n
\"If we find that we actually have Interfet soldiers being
\nattacked by indirect fire, that is by mortars or artillery (from
\nacross the border), it would be within our mandate to prosecute
\nthat offensive fire to protect our force.\"<\/p>\n
This week, Australia's defense minister said Interfet might
\ncross into West Timor if in hot pursuit of militia, prompting an
\nangry demand from Jakarta for clarification. Australia's premier
\non Friday played down his minister's comment.<\/p>\n
Interfet on Saturday pushed into the western area of Bobonaro
\nin East Timor as humanitarian relief efforts widened, Reuters
\nreported.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, AFP reported that 16 more bodies were found here as
\nthe United Nations announced Saturday that several members of a
\nhuman rights inquiry team would arrive shortly.<\/p>\n
\"I now understand that five people will be coming here next
\nweek to head that investigation,\" UN Mission in East Timor
\n(UNAMET) spokesman David Wimhurst told reporters here.<\/p>\n
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has
\nannounced an inquiry into abuses committed under Indonesian rule
\nin East Timor this year.<\/p>\n
Wimhurst could not provide more details Saturday on the makeup
\nof the team which will begin looking at the allegations of abuse.<\/p>\n
He said another 13 unburied bodies had been discovered in a
\nsmall village just west of Dili. Ten were burned in a truck, one
\nfemale was found dead near a house, and two other corpses were
\nfound in a shallow grave, UNAMET said.<\/p>\n
\"Interfet and Civpol (UNAMET civilian police) are conducting a
\npreliminary investigation,\" Wimhurst said.<\/p>\n
Over recent days more than 34 bodies have been found in the
\nDili area. The total includes three discovered by an AFP reporter
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
One was found in an abandoned house with a broken roof. The
\nbones of the dead man lay behind a door flanked by a large mural
\nof Christ. The skull and a limb had been severed from the
\nbackbone.<\/p>\n
Outside, another man, who residents said was shot dead the
\nsame day, lay buried in the yard under a pile of rocks. The house
\nin Balide district is about 500 meters from the UNAMET
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
Antonio Mojaku, who lives behind the abandoned house
\nidentified the bones as belonging to Markoli, 73, a neighborhood
\nresident.<\/p>\n
He said Geronimo Joaquin Galucio was buried out front.<\/p>\n
Pro-Indonesian militias were seen on the street outside the
\nhouse before both men were shot in the back and dragged into the
\nhome, said Arsenio Florindo da Costa, 23. His aunt witnessed the
\nmurders sometime around September 14, he said.<\/p>\n
What appeared to be a trail of blood ran up the front steps
\nand across the porch. A brown stain splattered the lower part of
\nthe door and inside a smear covered the tiled floor and led to a
\npile of ashes.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know what happened inside. They locked the doors,
\nbut we saw smoke,\" Da Costa said.<\/p>\n
Mojaku said the older man's body was cut up.<\/p>\n
A short distance away from the two bodies, AFP found another
\nstinking corpse inside an underground pit.<\/p>\n
The corpse in the village of Maskarenas appeared to have no
\nhead.<\/p>\n
The commander of the multinational security force in East
\nTimor said Saturday his men were not equipped to deal with
\natrocities and renewed an appeal for the speedy dispatch of more
\ncivilian police.<\/p>\n
\"They are the most gruesome evidence of atrocities,\" Major
\nGeneral Peter Cosgrove said. \"Then there are the wealth of
\nallegations, and chasing those down is a full-time job.<\/p>\n
\"We haven't got enough experts but no military force ever
\nwill.\"<\/p>",
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