Indonesia approves UN plan on unarmed troops in East Timor
Indonesia approves UN plan on unarmed troops in East Timor
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia has approved a UN request to employ
unarmed foreign military personnel to monitor the activities of
Indonesian soldiers ahead of the UN-organized direct ballot in
East Timor, Minister of Defense and Security Gen. Wiranto said on
Monday.
Speaking to journalists after attending a meeting of Council
for Enforcement of Security and Law at Bina Graha presidential
office, the general said the presence of the military liaison
officers team was proof of the Indonesian Military's (TNI)
neutrality in the ballot.
Wiranto, who is also TNI chief, pointed out the liaison
officers would not be armed because they would not work as a
peacekeeping force.
"They will be placed within our military units to monitor
whether what the TNI or the police are doing is correct and
proportional in carrying out their mission," said Wiranto.
He said the liaison team would comprise about 45 officers and
was expected to come from countries which had a neutral position
on East Timor. They will be accompanied by several Indonesian
officers.
He said he would replace some Army battalions with police
personnel there, and the number of TNI and police personnel
during the self-determination would be about 8,500 personnel,
most of them from territorial battalions and police officers.
Wiranto said that during the meeting, President B.J. Habibie
approved the appointment of senior diplomat Agus Tarmidzi to head
the Indonesian team in Dili.
The team is assigned to act as a counterpart of the United
Nations Assessment Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) operation in
the territory, he said.
The general also assured that TNI would take a neutral
position toward proindependence and prointegration factions. He
also denied reports that TNI had trained pro-Indonesia militia
groups.
"We will take firm action against any groups violating the
agreement," said the general.
He also discussed his meeting with UNAMET head Ian Martin on
Monday morning. Martin told him that he would head 242
international staffers, 420 volunteers, 280 police civilian
advisors and 4,000 East Timorese staffers.
Martin is scheduled to arrive in Dili on Tuesday and formally
open the UN headquarters in Dili on Thursday.
Separately, UNAMET spokesman in Dili David Wimhurst said all
UN facilities needed to organize the "popular consultation" to
determine the province's future were available.
He, however, said that the UN was still concerned over the
increasing violence, intimidation and terror campaigns against
local people.
"This is significant evidence that (warring) factions in the
troubled territory have not yet prepared for democracy. They are
not ready to accept if the people vote for a decision they do not
want," he said.
Wimhurst said his team would cooperate with the government and
conflicting factions to stop the violence and intimidation and
create a conducive climate for a free and fair ballot, scheduled
for Aug. 8.
He said his team was making contact with proindependence
groups, including the Falintil separatist group, and
prointegration groups in an effort to press them to lay down
their arms.
"Indonesia has agreed that during the ballot, all soldiers
deployed in the territory will stay in their barracks to ensure
neutrality," he said.
Wimhurst also said that as of June 8, UNAMET would launch a
campaign through the mass media to inform people, especially
those in East Timor, about the direct ballot.
Meanwhile, violence flared up again in two regencies in East
Timor last Friday, leaving four East Timorese dead and one
missing.
Three farmers, identified as Vicente Alves, 37, Caitano Alves
42, and Duarte Belo, 32, were killed when a group of rebels
launched an assault on their farming area in Viqueque regency,
while 25-year-old Manuel Coreia was killed by another group of
rebels in Samutoaben Hamlet in Bobonaro regency.
Capt. Widodo, spokesman for the East Timor Provincial Police,
said here on Monday that he got information about the ambush from
the victims' fellow villagers who escaped the assault.
"The two witnesses, identified as Fransisco Soares and Crispin
Soares, escaped the attack in Viqueque and found the three
victims' bodies at the site on Saturday," he said.
Widodo said Manuel was killed when he and Francisco, 29, who
went missing in the ambush, were patrolling their village on
Friday night.
"Manuel died after being treated for hours at a hospital in
Bobonaro," said Widodo.
He said dozens of security personnel and local people had been
deployed to search for the rebels and look for Francisco but no
progress had been made. (prb/33/rms)