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