Col. Salamat installed as East Timor military chief

DILI, East Timor (JP): Col. Salamat Sidabutar took over his new post as chief of the Wiradharma military command yesterday and pledged to crack down harder on Fretilin separatists.

Salamat, who replaced Col. Mahidin Simbolon, received a command baton from the Udayana regional military chief of staff, Brig. Gen. Syahrir M.S., who led a hand-over ceremony on behalf of the region's military commander, Maj. Gen. Abdul Rivai.

Rivai was in Jakarta to attend a ceremony for the handover of the post of Army chief of staff from Gen. R. Hartono to Gen. Wiranto.

Rivai told Salamat, in a speech delivered by Syahrir, to make his troops more alert for security threats from the separatists.

Four people were killed and 24 were injured earlier this month when suspected Fretilin rebels ambushed a truck carrying soldiers and police who were on election safeguard duty in Quelikai, 130 kilometers east of here.

There has been a recent spate of attacks, allegedly by separatists, on police and civilian targets in the former Portuguese colony.

Salamat said he would maintain order according to the law.

"Mentally and physically we have to be prepared for security duties, lest we become victims (of the rebels)," said Salamat, a former group commander in the Army Special Forces.

He said his quest for success would rely greatly on people in East Timor trying to uphold national unity.

Salamat played down Fretilin's strength, saying that it still had few members.

"I don't believe their strength has increased. It's common that a disruptive group lives in a society," he said.

Governor Abilio Soares, his deputy J. Haribowo, chairman of the province's legislative council Antonio Freitas Parada, East Timor police chief Col. Jusuf Mucharam and Catholic leaders attended yesterday's ceremony.

After the ceremony, Jusuf said the police had made 20 more arrests in connection with the weekend's Mercado municipal market fire, raising the number of detainees to 29.

He said the nine people arrested earlier were the main suspects.

Jusuf said that during questioning the suspects said Fretilin had paid them Rp 9 million (US$3,750) to burn down the market.

He said the suspects had been hired to disrupt the general election. They had also murdered and ambushed security officers safeguarding the election.

"Their actions received financial support from the separatist group members who live here and abroad," Yusuf said.

He said earlier that the Fretilin central regions leader, David Alex, had masterminded the market fire.

Governor Abilio joined the condemnation of Fretilin yesterday and called for harsh action. (33/amd)