Military warns of rebels in W. Timor

Military warns of rebels in W. Timor

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

The military says it has found evidence that a group on the
Indonesian side of Timor island is striving for an independent
state, which it wants to call Timor Raya.

Col. Moeswarno Moesanip, chief of Kupang Military District
overseeing East Nusa Tenggara, said here over the weekend that a
separatist movement had been detected in East Nusa Tenggara after
the local military monitored and analyzed all factors behind the
rejection by certain groups of the planned deployment of an
infantry battalion along the border between Indonesia and East
Timor.

The separatist movement has a political motive in its effort
to separate East Nusa Tenggara, or West Timor, from the unitary
state of Indonesia, he said.

Certain parties in North Timor Tengah regency, which borders
Atambua, have rejected the government's plan to deploy an
infantry battalion to increase security along the border.

According to Moesanip, the separatist movement would find it
difficulty to operate if security along the border was stepped
up.

He said that because of the detected separatist movement, the
Udayana Military Command overseeing Bali, West and East Nusa
Tenggara considered it urgent to station an elite force along the
border between East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.

"It's not a problem if the Timor Raya state is merely an idea,
but if it is declared, the rebels will be digging their own
graves because they will come face to face with the military," he
said.

Udayana Military Commander Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa
recently called for the immediate deployment of elite soldiers
along the border to prevent East Timor's communist ideology from
infiltrating West Timor.

Moesanip said the plan to station an infantry battalion in
North Timor Tengah regency had gained support from local people
and the Atambua Catholic diocese.

"It's not the residents of North Timor Tengah regency but
those in Atambua who know the real situation along the border. So
those who do not live in Atambua should not comment on whether an
infantry battalion is really needed along the border," he said.

He said the infantry battalion would be made up of servicemen
mostly from West Timor because they understood the social
problems and traditional customs in the province.

East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo dismissed the
separatist movement, saying it was an idea aired by minority
groups in the province.

"The issue of a Timor Raya state was raised by East Timorese
informal leaders taking refuge in North Timor Tengah at a recent
meeting with local people, but the local people will not be
easily influenced by such a weak issue," he told The Jakarta Post
here on Monday.