Anti-Indonesia protests held in Australia over East Timor

JAKARTA (JP): Anti-Indonesia protests were held in several major cities in Australia on Monday as more countries condemned Jakarta for its failure to curtail violence in East Timor, whose people had overwhelmingly voted for a separation.

In Darwin, East Timorese protesters burned Indonesia's flag outside the nation's consulate in the northern city, AP reported.

In Sydney, police sealed off the office of Prime Minister John Howard when 300 supporters of East Timor's independence massed outside demanding stronger action from the government.

The protesters later turned to the office of Indonesian airline Garuda where they scuffled with police before breaking through the security line and occupying the foyer.

Protests were held in West Australia's state capital, Perth, the southern city of Melbourne and Australia's capital, Canberra.

In Darwin, activist Jude Conway, who left East Timor on Saturday, set fire to the flag outside the consulate, claiming the Indonesian military was training militias and attacking the East Timorese.

"We are burning it as a symbol because we want the Indonesians to get out of East Timor," Conway said.

About 20 activists, most East Timorese but some Australian, then marched to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade office and demanded director Keith Gardner tell the federal government to send troops into East Timor.

In Melbourne, Australian churches called for UN peacekeepers to be sent to East Timor.

The head of the Catholic Church in Australia, Cardinal Edward Clancy, said if the violence was not stopped it could lead to mass murder in East Timor.

"The time for a United Nations mandated peacekeeping force is now," said Clancy, who has written to Australian Prime Minister John Howard calling on Australia to act to end the violence.

"Australia should join such an international effort, indeed be a key element of it, given our long history of association both with Indonesia and with East Timor," Clancy said.

"East Timor is not yet a war zone. The violence is a direct attack on independence supporters, mainly civilians, by Indonesian army-backed militias," he said.

"If we simply stand by and do nothing it will leave a scar on our reputation and history that will never heal," Clancy said.

The head of the National Council of Churches urged Australia to downgrade military ties with Indonesia.

"We need to bring every bit of pressure we can bring on to them at this stage and Australia probably has more real leverage with Indonesia than any single country outside the United States," said South Australian Anglican Archbishop Ian George.

Australian unions said they were considering targeting Indonesia with industrial bans over the crisis in East Timor.

"We cannot stand around and watch innocent people being slaughtered on our doorstep," said Michael Costa, secretary of the New South Wales Labor Council.

East Timorese supporters demanded peacekeepers and the withdrawal of international aid for Indonesia in a rowdy protest outside an Australian government cabinet meeting in Canberra.

Waving East Timorese flags and holding placards saying "How many more must die? S.O.S East Timor!" and "Australia Protection, not Evacuation", about 300 East Timorese community members, church leaders, students and trade union members called for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to address them.

New Zealand led a growing international chorus on Monday to send in an United Nations peacekeeping force to East Timor which has plunged into anarchy after the weekend's announcement of a vote giving victory to proindependence forces.

Foreign Minister Don McKinnon said in Wellington the United Nations' Security Council should move swiftly to upgrade its diplomatic initiative now that East Timor had opted for independence from Indonesia, Reuters reported.

McKinnon acknowledged there was no realistic prospect of a full UN peacekeeping force being deployed soon.

"If there's one thing that has come through from ... (international news) reporters, it's that the diplomatic initiative just has to be stepped up -- that it's not really possible to immediately put in any kind of an alternative force: that will take a couple of months," he told Radio New Zealand.

The purpose of international efforts was to bring Indonesia round to a cooperative stance, he said, adding: "The pressure must be kept up on (Indonesia's) President Habibie.

McKinnon said informal meetings among regional leaders of economies participating in this weekend's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in New Zealand should provide a channel on the East Timor question.

In Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia said it was prepared to deploy troops under the United Nations in East Timor, AFP reported.

"We're ever ready to dispatch our peace-keepers anywhere in the world," Defense Minister Abang Abu Bakar Mustapha was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency.

"The government will decide on deploying Malaysian peace- keeping troops there (East Timor) upon receiving a UN request."

A top Malaysian opposition leader urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to send a mission to East Timor to help implement the UN referendum vote in favor of independence and stop what he called genocide.

"ASEAN will lose all moral authority in the international arena if it allows a 'Bosnia-Herzegovina' of ethnic cleansing and genocide to take place within its region," Lim Kit Siang said in a statement.

In Manila, the Philippine government called for measures to end the violence in East timor.

"Violence will continue unless you have some machinery there to enforce law and order," Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon told a news conference.

President Joseph Estrada expressed "grave concern" about the rising violence.

A presidential spokesman said Manila, which has 21 policemen among the UN security contingent in that territory, would be willing to take part in a UN peacekeeping mission there only if Jakarta agrees.

"We have to consider Indonesia's attitude to this proposal, taking into account our relations," he added.

Japan's Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi urged rampaging pro- Jakarta militias to respect East Timor's vote for independence.

"It is very regrettable," Obuchi said about the violence raging in East Timor, calling on militias to respect "the ballot rather than bullets."

"It is the principle of democracy to decide things by ballot, not by bullets," Jiji Press quoted Obuchi as saying at his official residence.