TNI promises tighter border security after militia attack<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post
\nJakarta\/Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
The military commander overseeing the West Timor province
\npromised tighter security along its border with East Timor where
\none person died on Monday in an attack allegedly staged by pro
\nJakarta militia who crossed the border to West Timor.<\/p>\n
East Nusa Tenggara military chief Col. Moeswarno Moesanip said
\nthe Indonesian military (TNI) would not allow West Timor to
\nbecome a base for militia activities.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want them here and surely don't want to facilitate
\ntheir activities,\" Moeswarno said, adding \"we will tighten
\nsecurity.\"<\/p>\n
He said he had at his disposal two battalions, which would
\namount to 2,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
The East Timor government planned to hold an emergency meeting
\nafter an armed group attacked a bus in a rural area southeast of
\nthe capital Dili on Monday, AFP reported quoting the Lusa news
\nagency.<\/p>\n
At least one died and three people sustained injuries. The
\nbus, carrying at least 10 passengers, was ambushed near the town
\nof Ribeira de Loes.<\/p>\n
The attack came just a day after deputy commander of the
\nUnited Nations peace keeping force, Brig. Gen. Justin Kelly said
\npro-Indonesia militias had launched a \"terrorist strategy\" to
\ndestabilize East Timor.<\/p>\n
Last month five civilians were killed in an attack in East
\nTimor, which eyewitnesses said was carried out by pro-Indonesia
\nmilitias.<\/p>\n
The militias, backed by members of the Indonesian military,
\nburnt destroyed the country and killed hundreds of East Timorese
\nwhen the population overwhelmingly voted for independence in a UN
\nsponsored poll in 1999.<\/p>\n
Thousands were forced to flee to West Timor, most of whom
\nreturned, but many militia members remain in West Timor, as some
\nfear prosecution if they return. Indonesia has made no effort to
\nbring to justice the thousands of militia fighters, even though
\nsome of the leaders have been tried in a human rights trial.<\/p>\n
Kelly is now warning of infiltration from a group of militia
\nmembers, launching attacks from across the border in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
But East Timor stopped short of accusing the Indonesian
\ngovernment of backing the militias. The Australian government,
\nwhich has UN peacekeepers in East Timor, dismissed suspicion that
\nTNI was supporting the militias.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda
\nresponded with frustration to the latest attack and accusations.
\n\"I am tired of dealing with similar accusations over and over
\nagain,\" Hassan said in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
He said he recently met his East Timor counterpart Jose Ramos
\nHorta who said nothing about the militia problems.<\/p>\n
Hassan said the attacks were simply riots among the East
\nTimorese suffering from years of economic problems.<\/p>\n
Unemployment remains widespread and the country continues to
\nrely on foreign aid three and a half years since it won the
\nindependence vote.<\/p>\n
\"Without evidence and facts, accusations of militias operating
\nin West Timor are simply false,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that among the around 220,000 refugees who returned to
\nEast Timor, 8,000 were former militia members.<\/p>\n
\"If these people now stir problems in East Timor, that's their
\nproblem,\" he said.<\/p>",
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