Howard to visit Aussie troops in East Timor
Howard to visit Aussie troops in East Timor
CANBERRA (AFP): Prime Minister John Howard is to visit Australian troops in East Timor at the weekend to thank them for leading the successful UN-backed peacekeeping force to the embattled nation.
The visit, announced by Howard in parliament here on Monday, will be the first by an international leader to the former Indonesian province since it won its freedom a few weeks ago.
Howard is also expected to meet East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao for talks about the future of the new nation, which was devastated in a campaign of terror and destruction by Indonesian- backed militia in September.
"I just wanted to inform the House that it would be my intention to visit elements of the Australian Defense Force serving with the UN Assistance Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) force in East Timor next weekend," he told parliament.
Howard said he would convey the thanks of all Australians to the soldiers, who landed in the capital Dili on Sept. 20 in what has proved to be a highly successful mission to restore peace to the then embattled territory.
The soldiers, led by Gen. Peter Cosgrove, quickly stamped out the militia violence that began after a vote for independence by an overwhelming majority of East Timorese in a UN-brokered ballot at the end of August.
The only casualties of the mission so far have been a handful of militia men killed when they tried to ambush Australian troops and two soldiers wounded in the same attack.
"I know that in meeting General Cosgrove and others I will speak for the entire nation in conveying our thanks and gratitude and respect for the job that they have done and continue to do," said Howard.
The government is also facilitating a visit to East Timor by Opposition Labor leader Kim Beazley later next week. Beazley welcomed news of the Prime Minister's trip, saying he would go with the good wishes of all sides of Australian politics.
More than half of East Timor's pre-referendum population of around 800,000 were either killed or driven from their homes into refuge in the mountains or across the border into Indonesian West Timor.
Tens of thousands have returned to what was left of their homes in the towns since the arrival of the peacekeepers. But about 230,000 people of the 260,000 who were in most cases deported to West Timor by the Indonesians are still living in militia-controlled camps there, their return hampered by continuing militia violence and intimidation.
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, who arrived on a visit to West Timor on Sunday, has called for the immediate repatriation of the East Timorese, saying there is no reason for their continued detention.
Holbrooke, accompanied by U.S. Assistant State Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Stanley Roth, met East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet Tallo and visited refugee camps in Noelbaki.
Holbrooke has also called for "full accountability" of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) following allegations of military collusion in the campaign of murder, rape and looting by the anti-independence militia.
His team will travel to the East Timor capital of Dili later on Monday where they were expected to meet leaders of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor and the International Force for East Timor. They will meet Gusmao on Tuesday.