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.