More UN troops arrive in Dili<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): More than 1,000 heavily armed troops
\nfrom the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) landed
\nunopposed in this ravaged town on Monday.<\/p>\n
Dozens of soldiers immediately began securing the airport area
\nas soon as they disembarked from their aircraft, while others
\nrested in shady areas in the vicinity. Later in the day some 50
\ntroops took up positions in the city's port, where Australian
\nwarships HMAS Tobruk and HMAS Jarvis Bay will dock on Tuesday
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
Spokesman for the Restoration Operation Command, Lt. Col.
\nWillem Rampangile, told a media briefing after the dusk landing
\nthat the two ships, carrying logistics supplies and armed
\npersonnel carriers, delayed their arrival for a technical survey
\nbefore docking.<\/p>\n
Willem said 1,190 soldiers, mostly from Australia and New
\nZealand, arrived on Monday in 28 sorties. They were transported
\nby 25 Hercules aircraft flights, one Falcon for Interfet
\ncommander Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, a Sea King and one Grumman
\nchopper.<\/p>\n
\"The flights will continue until tomorrow night and the total
\nby tomorrow night is expected to reach 2,500,\" Willem said.<\/p>\n
At least 10 Land Rovers mounted with machine guns and two
\narmored personnel carriers were also seen disembarking from the
\naircraft.<\/p>\n
Another group of peacekeepers landed in Baucau, some 150
\nkilometers east of here, for field orientation. The force, made
\nup of American, Filipino, Thai and Singaporean troops, will fly
\nback to Darwin to assess the number of further troops to be
\ndeployed in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Cosgrove requested during a meeting with head of the
\nrestoration commander Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, East Timor
\nMilitary Commander Col. Muhammad Noer Muis, local police chief
\nCol. Timbul Silaen that several planes carrying more Interfet
\ntroops be allowed to land at Baucau's airport on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"Because of the dense air traffic, he asked if some of the
\nflights could land at Baucau tomorrow morning, and I agreed
\nbecause the apron in Dili airport can only handle three planes at
\na time,\" Syahnakri said, adding that the Interfet intended to
\nfinish deployment of its troops within two weeks.<\/p>\n
In between, the commander of US forces in the multinational
\nforce for East Timor, Marine Corps Brig. Gen. John Castellaw,
\nmade a brief visit here to assess the situation ahead of the
\ndeployment of a US unit to handle airlift operations, Pentagon
\nofficials said.<\/p>\n
\"We're looking to move in a TALCE (tanker airlift control
\nelement) in the next day or two,\" a Pentagon official, who spoke
\non condition of anonymity, told AFP.<\/p>\n
The White House has said about 100 US troops would be deployed
\non the ground in East Timor, providing support and expertise
\nrather than combat muscle.<\/p>\n
Pentagon officials said about 125 US military personnel have
\narrived in Darwin, Australia, the force's staging area. They
\ninclude about 75 intelligence analysts, 20 communications
\nspecialists, 21 logistics planners, and as many as six logistics
\nspecialists.<\/p>\n
As more airplanes carrying international troops stream into
\nhere, the local military resort is preparing to vacate the
\nterritory, to make way for the UN-approved force.<\/p>\n
Muis said his military resort would be handed over to
\nInterfet. The military resort will be disbanded and established
\nas a new resort in East Nusa Tenggara, he said.<\/p>\n
He said 80 percent of the 7,000 troops and 5,000 police in the
\nterritory had already been pulled out.<\/p>\n
As he was speaking, equipment and furniture from his
\nheadquarters were being loaded onto military trucks to be
\ntransported to Maumere and Ende in East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Indonesian Military (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen.
\nSudrajat said a proindependence militia commander claimed to have
\nabout 50,000 prointegration militiamen under his control.<\/p>\n
\"I heard from Eurico Guterres he has 50,000 men in East Timor,
\nbut please ask him again,\" military chief spokesman Maj. Gen.
\nSudrajat told reporters after a legislative meeting.<\/p>\n
While addressing the House of Representatives, TNI chief Gen.
\nWiranto dismissed reports that thousands may have died in East
\nTimor and instead said the death toll was under 100.<\/p>\n
\"The number of victims that we have recorded since the
\nannouncement of the result of the referendum is roughly in the
\n90s,\" Gen. Wiranto told the legislature.<\/p>\n
\"That is the number that we have recorded so far. It is not
\nthe tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands as reported by the
\nforeign media.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Canadian medical teams, pilots, mechanics and crew
\nof two C-130-Hercules aircraft left a military base in Trenton on
\nMonday on their way to Australia and then East Timor to join the
\nUN-authorized multinational force there.<\/p>\n
The troops -- who were to leave Canada Tuesday -- will not
\nparticipate in ground missions but only in specific operations,
\nCanada's defense ministry has said.<\/p>\n
Their role will center on such activities as supply drops,
\ntroop transportation or evacuations of the sick and the injured.<\/p>\n
The Protecteur supply ship, with 250 people and two Sea King
\nhelicopters aboard, was to leave British Columbia Thursday and
\narrive in the region in mid-October.<\/p>\n
No decision had yet been made as to whether Canadian ground
\ntroops will take part in the multinational force. (byg\/rms)<\/p>",
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