Cohen arrives to press govt over militias in West Timor
Cohen arrives to press govt over militias in West Timor
JAKARTA (JP): United States Defense Secretary William Cohen
arrived here on Sunday evening for meetings with top Indonesian
officials in which he is expected to press the government to take
firm action against militias operating in West Timor.
Cohen touched down at Halim Perdanakusuma airport having
traveled on a U.S. military plane.
Cohen is due to meet separately with President Abdurrahman
Wahid, Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Defense Minister
Mahfud MD on Monday before flying off on the next leg of his six
country tour of Asia. It is expected to be his last as defense
secretary.
His arrival here comes in the wake of the killing of three UN
aid workers in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, on Sept. 6.
The United Nations Security Council has issued a strong
resolution demanding the Indonesian government deal with the
refugee and militia problem across the East Timor border.
Before arriving in Jakarta, Cohen said in Singapore on Sunday
that Washington wanted Indonesia to eliminate the militias and
make a commitment to the safety and security of refugees.
"We want to see the violence stopped in East Timor. We want to
see a commitment on the part of the Indonesian government to the
safety and security of the refugees who are currently in West
Timor, and compliance with the Security Council resolutions," he
said as quoted by AFP.
Cohen said he supported Wahid's efforts to restore economic
stability and steer Indonesia through a turbulent transition to
democracy.
"But we want to see the militias eliminated," he told
reporters aboard the USS Germantown, a warship that is docked in
the city state for naval exercises with Singapore.
Condemn
Separately in Kuta, Bali, the East Timorese pro-Indonesia
group Untas condemned the violence in Atambua.
"We regret and condemn the violence which left a former
militia Olivio Maruk, UN officials and several residents dead,"
Untas chairman Dominggus Soares, accompanied by former militia
commander Eurico Guterres, told journalists in a media briefing
on Saturday.
Soares said his organization, which consists of former East
Timor militia and scholars, had renounced the use of violence in
its struggle.
He said a solution for East Timor could only be reached
through reconciliation.
Guterres also condemned the violence and denied any
involvement.
"I arrived in Atambua when the incident had happened. I just
heard from reports," Guterres said.
Guterres also refuted accusations that militia groups had been
hampering the repatriation of refugees to East Timor.
He said that the some 100,000 refugees still in West Timor
were families of pro-Indonesian groups. (zen/jun)