Don't let Australia have its way

Don't let Australia have its way

From Rakyat Merdeka

The incident in Matoaen village on the East Nusa Tenggara-East
Timor border on Oct. 10, 1999, reflects the excessive and
arbitrary stance of the Australian troops who are part of the
Interfet multinational forces in East Timor. One member of the
Indonesian (Police) Mobile Brigade died, and this has elicited a
strong reaction from the Indonesian side. Interfet attacked the
post on the border in a combat-ready position and in a hostile
manner, as if confronting a big enemy. They had the effrontery to
transgress the border of Indonesia's sovereign territory.

On the excuse of chasing prointegration militia they entered
Indonesian territory as close as the Indonesian Police guard
post. Interfet comprises professional military men. It is not
possible that they are ignorant. It is a big lie. They were not
negligent. Their insult was intentional. They provoked the
Indonesian Military's (TNI) anger to create a conflict.

I expect the incident will have the central government's
attention and the violation will be reported to the United
Nations. There is no international law allowing troops from one
country to enter the territory of another country without
permission of the latter, let alone launch an attack. Indonesia's
sovereign territory should not be trampled upon arbitrarily by
Interfet. In order to avoid recurrence of such an incident the
government must station TNI to reinforce the border region
between East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.

Interfet should not try to enter Indonesian territory again if
it does not want to run a big risk and have regrets.

A. NURFAUZY

Jakarta