Indonesia protests fatal shooting of Sgt. Lirman

Indonesia protests fatal shooting of Sgt. Lirman

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Despite the official protest
by the government, Udayana Military chief Maj. Gen. Willem T. da
Costa said on Monday that the shooting of an Indonesian Army
soldier by a UN peacekeeper was "understandable".

"Based on (initial) site investigations, the deceased had
acted against military regulations. He left a security post to
enter the neutral zone, not in military uniform -- though armed
-- without the permission of the picketing officers," Willem told
The Jakarta Post. "Based on the facts the Indonesian Military
(TNI) has to accept the incident."

First Sgt. Lirman Hadimu, a member of Indonesian Infantry
Battalion 726 in Belu regency, was shot to death on Saturday in
the village of Alas, Belu, East Nusa Tenggara, close to the East
Timorese border.

Initial reports indicated that Lirman was not in military
uniform at the time and a victim of an unprovoked attack by the
United Nations Peace-Keeping Force (UN-PKF).

Udayana Military Command handles the regions of Bali, West and
East Nusa Tenggara.

Willem later confirmed that the shooting was in accordance
with procedures. "In such a neutral zone around the border,
security is very tight. Nobody is allowed to conduct any type of
activity unless permission is granted from military troops (from
the two countries) guarding the area."

"He (Sgt. Lirman) might have been behaving irrationally, he
had been stubborn by deciding to go alone through the neutral
border zone, although he knew about military procedure," Willem
said.

The government of Indonesia strongly protested to UNTAET the
fatal shooting in Indonesian territory.

The Directorate of Foreign Information at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, in its written statement made available to the
media on Monday, said that Indonesia attached enormous importance
to a full scale probe into the shooting to ensure that those
responsible for this act be held fully accountable.

It said that Indonesia had submitted a formal complaint to
UNTAET.

"In view of the gravity of the matter, we expect a prompt and
serious response from UNTAET so that urgent steps are taken to
prevent a recurrence of such an incident," the media announcement
read.

TNI and UN-PKF have agreed to set up a joint investigation
into the incident.

TNI's East Timor border task force commander Lt.Col. Magna
Chandra said on Monday that UN-PKF admitted they carried out the
shooting.

According to Willem, the UN-PKF chief, Lt. Gen. Brondsman, had
also admitted that one of the UN-PKF's soldiers had shot Sgt.
Lirman.

"When shot, he (Lirman) was only about two meters from the
bank of a river, which is acknowledged as the border, while the
UN-PKF patrol were about 75 meters away," said Willem.

However, he said that legally the two countries, Indonesia and
East Timor did not actually have a very clear border.

"Officially a clear border has yet to be set up. The existing
(acknowledged) border is based on a map made by Portugal."

In a related development, chief of Wirasakti Military Resort
Col. Budi Heryanto said he would lodge an official complaint with
the United Nations about the shooting.

"Lirman was still in Indonesian territory. The UN-PKF soldier
violated procedures," Budi said. (30/sur)