RI troops open fire as reunion turns into violence<\/p>\n
BATUGADE, East Timor (Reuters): Indonesian troops opened fire
\nat the sensitive Timor border on Saturday as a reunion of
\nfamilies split by the conflict threatened to degenerate into
\nserious violence, witnesses said.<\/p>\n
Around 200 rounds of automatic fire were let off by Indonesian
\nsoldiers, shooting into the air near the main border crossing a
\nshort distance from the town of Batugade. A local commander of
\nthe multinational force Interfet, sent into East Timor last year,
\nsaid the United Nations would carry out an investigation.<\/p>\n
In a few days a UN peacekeeping force will formally assume
\ncontrol of security in devastated East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"It would appear a large volley of shots were fired by TNI
\n(Indonesian military) as warning shots,\" Lt. Col. Simon Gould,
\ncommander of the contingent manning the border, told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"There is going to be an investigation by the UN over the
\nincident.\"<\/p>\n
Multinational troops in East Timor did not open fire in the
\nincident and said there were no casualties. However, witnesses
\nreported at least one man with a gash to the head.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian policeman was killed in October in an exchange
\nof fire near the same spot.<\/p>\n
Gould insisted there were sufficient UN security forces,
\nincluding troops, unarmed civilian police and military observers
\non the East Timor side. However, one military observer said the
\npresence was woefully inadequate.<\/p>\n
Around 15,000 people had gathered at the site on Saturday for
\na UN-sponsored event to bring refugees in West Timor together
\nwith their relatives in East Timor. The month-old reunions are
\ncredited with vastly increasing the number of returning refugees.<\/p>\n
More than 100,000 refugees in West Timor have been given a
\nMarch 31 deadline by Jakarta to decide whether to remain in
\nIndonesia or return to their devastated homeland, now being
\nadministered by the UN<\/p>\n
Visitors to the camps in West Timor say the refugees are still
\nsubject to harassment and have limited access to information
\nabout the situation in East Timor.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the trouble started when East Timorese and
\nsuspected anti-independence militiamen across the border began
\ntaunting one another. There was also a report that an alleged
\nmilitiaman crossed into East Timor and tried to hit someone.<\/p>\n
Rocks began being thrown and then the shooting continued for
\nabout two to three minutes, witnesses said, as refugees scrambled
\ninto the sea or ran back into West Timor for safety. Some
\nwitnesses saw it as an attempt to sabotage the UN-backed reunion
\ndays.<\/p>\n
\"I think this was a result of provocation by the militia,\"
\nsaid Rafael Robillard, head of the International Organization of
\nMigration in West Timor.<\/p>\n
Hundreds were killed and most of East Timor left in ruins last
\nSeptember in a wave of violence after the territory voted for
\nindependence from Indonesia. Anti-independence militia and their
\nmilitary backers are accused of masterminding the violence.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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