Interfet ready to take command of East Timor
Interfet ready to take command of East Timor
JAKARTA (Agencies): The International Force for East Timor
(Interfet) readied on Saturday to assume full military command of
East Timor as the Indonesian Military pressed ahead with its
withdrawal.
The Australian-led Interfet is due to formally take charge of
the territory by Monday.
The Indonesian command has said the remaining 4,500 Indonesian
soldiers would pull out during next month, following the
departure by Friday of 7,000 troops.
Heavily armed Australian soldiers, meanwhile, combed the East
Timor capital of Dili for militiamen, while helicopters overhead
covered the ground operations.
Increasing numbers of refugees were returning to the town,
which they fled three weeks ago after the territory was wracked
with violence following the Aug. 30 ballot in which a majority
rejected Indonesia's offer of autonomy.
More United States troops may join the multinational
peacekeeping force, which has still to assert its authority much
beyond Dili.
Washington has so far committed 230 troops to Interfet.
The current strength of the multinational force is estimated
at 3,000 soldiers and will eventually rise to about 7,500.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, Adm. Dennis
Blair, indicated additional commitments would be made when
defense secretary William Cohen visits Australia next week.
However, he would not estimate how many more might be sent.
The Clinton administration has not specified how many troops
it might contribute to the UN mission, but officials have
indicated it would be no more than several hundred. The
administration has said it would limit U.S. participation to
support rather than combat.
Blair, in remarks to reporters at the Pentagon, said he was
pleased with Australia's execution so far of the peacekeeping
effort in East Timor. He predicted that peace would be restored
"within weeks" in the region and said the Indonesian military had
"by and large been cooperating".
Cohen was also to visit Jakarta next week for talks with
President B.J. Habibie and military commander Gen. Wiranto.
Lower-level officials from Cohen's travel party are expected
to make a quick visit to Dili while he is in the region.
In Manila, the Philippines sent a second batch of soldiers on
Saturday to join the multinational peacekeeping force in East
Timor.
The 113-member contingent, more than half comprising army
engineers, doctors and dentists, will join the first group of 127
who left Manila a week earlier.
Separately, East Timorese resistance leader Jose Alexandre
"Xanana" Gusmao, who fled to Darwin from Jakarta last week, left
for New York on Saturday to meet with World Bank officials.