Holbrooke reserves judgment on RI's E. Timor agreement

Holbrooke reserves judgment on RI's E. Timor agreement

AILEU, East Timor (Reuters): Washington's ambassador to the
United Nations said on Tuesday the United States would be
watching closely to see if Indonesia honored an agreement over
joint patrols near the border between East and West Timor.

Richard Holbrooke was speaking at the end of a brief visit to
Timor island, on a day when he met independence leader Xanana
Gusmao and was saluted by his Falintil guerrilla fighters.

"We'll see if the Indonesian military honors and implements
the border commission agreement yesterday and if the attitude
towards the activities of the militia moves in the direction we
want it to move," Holbrooke said.

Anti-independence militia backed by the Indonesian military
carried out a wave of terror in East Timor in September after
voters rejected Indonesian rule in a referendum. On Monday, the
military undertook to rein in the militia.

Holbrooke flew into the Falintil cantonment in East Timor to
tell the jungle fighters of the refugees' plight in Indonesian
West Timor, where hundreds of thousands from the east of the
island fled or were forced to go in September.

"We've just come from refugee camps in West Timor where the
situation is not so good. Many of your friends, many of your
relatives are still trapped in these camps," Holbrooke told the
fighters.

"If they could see this scene today they would not be afraid
to come home to the peace and freedom that you have achieved."

But Holbrooke later told reporters in Dili he would reserve
his judgment on the success of his mission, pending the
implementation of the border agreement. But he said Gusmao,
widely expected to be East Timor's first president, was satisfied
with the deal.

"We discussed at length the crisis among the refugees in West
Timor and reported to Mr Gusmao on yesterday's agreement at the
border and he expressed satisfaction with that agreement."

The sale of military weapons to Indonesia and the resumption
of military training would not resume unless there was an end to
the refugee crisis, Holbrooke said.

"Something like a sixth of all the people of this area, East
Timor, are living in camps in West Timor under lousy conditions
and they should be allowed to either come home or be integrated
into Indonesian society right away."

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday that his
country will create two new infantry battalions for a period of
two years to boost the country's defenses during the East Timor
peacekeeping operation.

The move will increase the number of active infantry
battalions from four to six and bring the overall size of the
army to 26,000 soldiers from 23,000. Air force numbers will
increase by 500 to 13,500.

"This increase is required to sustain Australia's involvement
in the peacekeeping operation and to maintain acceptable levels
of overall defense readiness," Howard told parliament.

Australia currently has 4,400 troops in East Timor, out of a
total 9,900 assigned to the multinational force sent there in
September to restore order in East Timor.

Australia estimates the extra defense costs from the
deployment of forces to East Timor will be some A$3 billion (US$2
billion) over three years.