Italians to join Interfet

Italians to join Interfet

CANBERRA (AP): A contingent of 200 Italian paratroopers will
join the international peacekeeping force in East Timor, Italian
officials in Australia said Saturday.

The soldiers will leave the northern Australian city of Darwin
early Monday and arrive in the East Timorese capital of Dili on
the same day. The troops will be followed by an Italian navy
contingent a few days later, the Italian embassy said in a
statement.

Darwin, about 90 minutes flying time from Dili, is the staging
point for the Australian-led peacekeeping force.

Some 7,000 foreign troops are currently in East Timor to quell
violence which followed East Timor's vote for independence on
Aug. 30.

In the deadliest clash so far between pro-Indonesian
militiamen and international troops, peacekeepers shot dead three
paramilitaries in a firefight in the west of the province,
officials said Saturday.

Three other militiamen were believed wounded in the clash
early Saturday near the village of Marko, some 25 kilometers (15
miles) from the border of Indonesian-held West Timor, said Col.
Mark Kelly, chief of staff of the peacekeeping force.

None of the Australian troops involved was injured, he said.