UNTAET to take over East Timor soon<\/p>\n
DENPASAR, Bali (JP): UNTAET peacekeeping force commander Lt.
\nGen. Jaime de los Santos said on Tuesday that his troops would
\nsoon take over complete supervision of East Timor from Interfet.<\/p>\n
"By the end of February, we shall take over all the sectors
\nwithin East Timor," De los Santos said after a courtesy call on
\nchief of the Udayana Military Command Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri.<\/p>\n
The Philippine general was accompanied by the chief of the
\nUnited Nations Military Observers (UNMO), Brig. Gen. Rezaq
\nHayder, in the one-hour meeting.<\/p>\n
De los Santos said the UNTAET peacekeeping force would consist
\nof 9,000 personnel from 27 countries, not including 200 military
\nobservers.<\/p>\n
East Timor would be divided into eastern, central and western
\nsectors. UNTAET, whose members are from South Korea, Thailand,
\nand the Philippines, took over the eastern sector from Interfet
\nearly this month.<\/p>\n
De los Santos said he did not foresee any obstacles in the
\npeacekeeping process in East Timor.<\/p>\n
"Although before I came to Denpasar there were some isolated
\ncases at the border, but after my meeting with General Syahnakri
\nthis afternoon, I was assured that we can have good cooperation
\nand good communication, so that the problems at the border will
\nbe reduced, minimized, if not eradicated."<\/p>\n
He said most of the incidents were border crossings by former
\nmembers of pro-Jakarta militias. He added that the border
\ncrossings occurred some weeks ago and the Indonesian security
\nforces took action to deal with them.<\/p>\n
He added that he met with several high-ranking Indonesian
\nofficials on Monday, including Minister of Defense Juwono
\nSudarsono, Indonesian Military Commander Adm. Widodo and Army
\nchief of staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto.<\/p>\n
"They told me they will support the programs of the UN and
\nUNTAET. I think this is a very good sign for the normalization of
\nthe situation in East Timor."<\/p>\n
On a separate occasion, Kiki said economic factors were behind
\nthe border crossings in East Timor.<\/p>\n
"We all know East Timor is lacking foodstuffs. A kilogram of
\nsugar costs Rp 55,000, if that.<\/p>\n
"It is very possible that prointegration militias were
\ninvolved in the border crossings. But we have taken stern action
\nagainst them," he said, referring the arrest of Moko Soarez, a
\nformer militia member, who was found selling guns last week.<\/p>\n
The buyers of the guns were also arrested, he said. "The guns
\ndated back to the Portuguese colonial era."<\/p>\n
Soarez is being held in Kefamenanu Police detention in West
\nNusa Tenggara, awaiting trial.<\/p>\n
East Timor broke away after 25 years with Indonesia following
\na UN-sponsored self-determination ballot last year which resulted
\nin an overwhelming rejection to Jakarta's wide-ranging autonomy
\noffer. Violence followed the ballot, prompting the UN to send
\npeacekeeping force to the territory. (zen\/sur)<\/p>",
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