Australia PM urges RI to tackle Timor militias

Australia PM urges RI to tackle Timor militias

CANBERRA (Agencies): Australian Prime Minister John Howard called on Indonesia on Friday to beef up efforts against pro- Jakarta militias on the East Timor border after a New Zealand soldier was shot dead this week.

"There are militia who are out of control. We urge the Indonesian government to redouble their efforts to bring them under control," Howard told Perth radio station 6PR.

Howard said the death of New Zealander Private Leonard Manning, 24, was a reminder that the 9,000-member UN peacekeeping operation in East Timor was still very dangerous.

Manning's death was the first combat casualty in the territory since a UN-backed peace enforcement team arrived last September to stop a vicious backlash against East Timorese by pro-Jakarta militias after a vote of independence from Indonesia.

"Although things have been very quiet and thus far there have been no battle deaths of Australians...the death of that young New Zealand soldier has driven home to all of us that it's still a very dangerous thing," Howard said.

The Australian government announced on Thursday it was strengthening its presence in East Timor to protect its 1,500 troops serving in the UN mission in the face of deteriorating security on the border.

Reports from East Timor say that militia chiefs are slipping back to West Timor where they fled after the violence and appear to be re-grouping with more arms.

When asked how much longer Australia needed to have its troops there, Howard said: "Probably another 18 months or two years, perhaps less...perhaps not at the same strength but around that strength for the foreseeable future."

The largest concentration of Australian troops in East Timor provides security on the east side of the border which is patrolled by the United Nations. Indonesia controls the west side.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff on Friday described as "appalling" a report that a bounty has been placed on the heads of New Zealand and Australian peace-keepers in East Timor.

"I regard it as appalling that a bounty of a sum around $200 to $300 as been placed for the death of any New Zealand or Australian peace-keeper in East Timor," he said.

But he said he had no independent confirmation of the report on the bounty that was carried in the Sydney Morning Herald and other newspapers.

Steps need to be taken to secure the border area of East Timor and Indonesian West Timor, he said.

He said those responsible for the murder of a New Zealand peace-keeper early this week, believed to be members of a pro- Jakarta militia, should be quickly brought to justice.

Goff is attending meetings in Bangkok between the foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and dialog partners from Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States.

Goff said the murder of the New Zealand soldier would be discussed further in talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab on Saturday.

"I welcome the very positive response made by the Indonesians to ensuring the murderers of Private Leonard Manning are tracked down and are held to account for their actions," Goff said.

Goff added the murderers should be arrested and extradited to East Timor to be brought before the justice system there.

"I look forward to the cooperation of the Indonesian government on that, I welcome their invitation for New Zealand to jointly investigate," he said.