Militia members attack UN post in East Timor: Official
JAKARTA (JP): A 100-strong group of pro-Jakarta militiamen attacked an unarmed UN outpost in East Timor on Tuesday, injuring a foreign electoral officer and several East Timorese, a UN official said.
"One UNAMET staff member, a woman district electoral officer of South African nationality, suffered a minor injury to her leg and several East Timorese suffered head and other injuries," the official of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) told The Jakarta Post in quoting a statement.
The incident is the first reported violence against the UN mission since it began work in East Timor last month ahead of August's scheduled ballot to determine the future of the province.
In Jakarta on Tuesday, 60 proindependence and prointegration groups were gathering for peace talks at the Sheraton Bandara Hotel. They are scheduled to end on Wednesday.
UNAMET said the attack on its regional office in Maliana, Bobonaro regency, about 80 kilometers southwest of the provincial capital of Dili, happened at about 10 a.m.
The attackers were from "a group estimated at about 100 militia who were among a larger crowd who had gathered outside the office.
"The militia threw rocks and stones at the office where UNAMET staff were present" in addition to local people who had taken shelter in the building.
"The UNAMET office was considerably damaged," the statement said. It added that a more complete report would be issued when the mission's chief security officer returned to Dili after rushing to the site.
A witness in Maliana told the Post that the attack was led by Juliao Soares, a local military member. She added that members of the militia also attacked three nearby houses and two UN cars.
The government said the attack on the UNAMET office was the result of a brawl between supporters and opponents of independence, but denied it was a deliberate act against the organization.
"Not at all. Any insinuation in that direction is completely wrong," spokesman for the Task Force for the Implementation of the Popular Consultation in East Timor Dino Patti Djalal was quoted as saying by Reuters.
At the Jakarta peace talks, member of the National Commission on Human Rights Clementino dos Reis Amaral said the commission insisted that police should investigate the matter.
"For any reason, the UNAMET cannot be assaulted," he said.
The country's image and the trust of the UN in Indonesia was at stake, he added.
AFP quoted Anicetto Guterres of the private Justice and Peace Commission in Dili as saying that he received reports from locals in Maliana that dozens of militiamen attacked the post. He said they were armed with wooden clubs and rocks, but not with firearms.
"I've only heard of one person being injured, maybe from shattered glass when a rock hit," he was quoted as saying.
Guterres said the local police station was about one kilometer from the UNAMET office but a smaller police post was situated across from the building. Police did not arrive on the scene until after the attack, he said.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ordered a two-week delay in the vote, originally scheduled for Aug. 8, partly because of the continuing violence in the province.
The military backed militia has been blamed for most of the violence in East Timor since January, when the government first announced it would consider granting independence to the former Portuguese colony if its people rejected an autonomy offer.
Indonesia and Portugal agreed in May that the UN would send in contingents of unarmed civilian police and electoral officers to supervise the vote. Indonesian police are responsible for security. (byg/33/imn/anr)