More Australia choopers, troops for East Timor<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (AFP): Australia is to send four blackhawk helicopters
\nand an extra 100 troops to East Timor to help support the United
\nNations peacekeeping mission, Defense Minister John Moore said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Moore said the decision was made some weeks ago to increase
\nAustralia's involvement in the peacekeeping operation, and it was
\nnot a response to the death of a New Zealand soldier near the
\nborder with West Timor on Monday.<\/p>\n
Private Leonard Manning was shot and killed during a clash
\nbetween UN troops and a heavily armed group of gunmen believed to
\nbelong to a militia group.<\/p>\n
Moore, who held talks with New Zealand's Defense Minister Mark
\nBurton prior to the announcement, said the helicopters would help
\nAustralian troops to better control the situation.<\/p>\n
\"The extra blackhawks will improve the Australian battalion's
\nability to properly perform its mission in East Timor, and ensure
\nour forces are even better prepared to manage the security
\nsituation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"This newly announced deployment has the full support of the
\nUnited Nations.\"<\/p>\n
Moore called on the Indonesian government to address the
\nmilitia problem on its side of the border. \"Our concern is to be
\nable to deliver a civilian government to East Timor in a timely
\nand appropriate manner,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"That presumably comes up in the latter part of next year.
\nUnder those circumstances, we'd like to see the border situation
\nresolved, so that people can peacefully pass across it both ways,
\nat that point.\"<\/p>\n
He also made a veiled criticism of the UN command in East
\nTimor. \"We have no reason to believe the current command
\nstructure up there is anything else but adequate,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"Quite clearly, the Australians and New Zealanders carry the
\nmajor load -- they've been there on the border itself.<\/p>\n
\"As we move into next year, it will of course presumably lead
\nto some change in the political structure of East Timor,\" he
\nsaid. \"That will lead to certain judgments to be made then.\"<\/p>\n
Burton said New Zealand had sent clear messages to Indonesia
\non the militia threat.<\/p>\n
\"We do believe Indonesia has to redouble its efforts,
\nparticularly as to security on the border, addressing the issue
\nof the refugee camps and taking some responsibility for the
\nwestern side of the border,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said New Zealand expected Indonesia's co-operation in
\nidentifying the militia involved in the killing of Private
\nManning.<\/p>\n
Australia currently has 1,500 peacekeepers deployed in East
\nTimor, which voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia
\nlast August, prompting a backlash from sections of the military,
\npolice and armed militias.<\/p>\n
The killing and mutilation of Private Leonard Manning put East
\nTimor on the agenda of the forum involving the Association of
\nSoutheast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and key dialogue partners
\nincluding the United States, Japan, China and Russia in Bangkok.<\/p>\n
A militia gang believed to operate from within one of the
\nsqualid refugee camps inside Indonesian West Timor is suspected
\nof carrying out the attack.<\/p>\n
\"The clear evidence is that the incursions have taken
\nplace ... by militias that operate out of refugee camps,\" said
\nNew Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff.<\/p>\n
\"What I am raising in Bangkok today is the need for the
\nIndonesian government to decisively disband and disarm the
\nmilitia and to deal with the problem of the refugee camps,\" he
\nsaid on the fringes of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).<\/p>\n
He added: \"Clearly, we will expect Indonesia to put into
\naction its promises to deal resolutely with the situation.\"<\/p>\n
Goff said both Indonesia and the UN authority supervising East
\nTimor's transition to full independence must work out a solution
\nto the militia problem.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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