ABRI to arm villagers

DILI: The Armed Forces (ABRI) will arm villagers here to fight armed Falintil separatists, East Timor Military chief Col. Tono Suratman said on Saturday.

"I have an order from my superior to arm villagers so that they can secure their villages," he said after attending a Navy anniversary day here. There are 442 villages in East Timor.

Suratman said that his office would assess which villages would receive weapons and trainings. But he said only villages "prone" to attacks by separatists would be armed.

He also said that he would take the responsibility should the measure cause excesses. "I'll shoulder all the risks. I just think that those Falintils have gone too far," he said.

Suratman dismissed suggestions that the drastic measure was taken in connection with the earlier withdrawal of troops from the troubled province.

"It's not that. It's just that these Falintils have killed and killed even with the presence of troops here." They could get more dangerous in the absence of troops, he added. (33)