Militiamen surrender weapons
Militiamen surrender weapons
ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara (AP): Militiamen in East Nusa Tenggara surrendered hundreds of weapons to police on Saturday in the first step of what the Indonesian government and the international community hope will be a total disarmament.
Just down the road from the UN office where three foreign aid workers were killed by a mob on Sept. 6, 12 gang members arrived at a local police station with three cars packed with weapons.
In all, seven automatic rifles, nine grenade launchers, 485 homemade guns, four grenades and 687 rounds of ammunition were handed in by members of the Thunder militia group, one of many gangs that went on the rampage after the East Timorese voted against continued integration with Indonesia.
With dozens of officers standing guard, the police confiscated the weapons and placed them in white sacks before locking them away in the police station.
"More weapons will come in over the next few days," said Supt. Simatubang. "We are going to receive all of them."
Indonesia is under intense international pressure to clamp down on the militiamen after they allegedly killed three United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees humanitarian workers and three Indonesians.
On Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen warned that Indonesia risked losing international financial assistance if it fails to immediately disband the armed gangs.
While Saturday's weapons surrender was a positive first step, hundreds of other militiamen are yet to come forward and surrender their guns.
Jakarta has promised to use force to disarm and disband any militiamen who do not surrender their weapons by Tuesday.
In Jakarta, former information minister Lt. Gen. (ret) M. Yunus Yosfiah reiterated that total disarmament of former militiamen and the handling of refugees by the Indonesian government was key to assuring the international community the country was serious in dealing with the problem.
"The militia as an institution no longer exists. There are only ex-members of militias now," Yunus said on the sidelines of a media seminar on Saturday.
"They were disarmed back then, but it turned out that they're still carrying weapons ... and this fact makes the international community suspect Indonesia as the one who is involved in it."
Yunus is a former chief of sociopolitical affairs for the armed forces and served in East Timor.
He said it was up to diplomats to set the record straight for the international community.
"Now it's also up to our diplomats to explain the truth to the world and defend our country's interests, because this problem emerged as a result of our failure in diplomatic efforts.
"I hope that no embargo will be imposed to us because of the East Timor matter."
He added there must be proper handling of the estimated 120,000 refugees.
"People also have to understand that besides former militias, refugees are also the core of the problem as they have gone through a lot of disappointment. These groups can be easily provoked in certain incident.
"So the government's quick and proper handling as well as listening to the refugees aspiration, whether they want to stay or leave the country, is a must."
UN peacekeepers in East Timor said on Friday that they feared some militiamen may sneak back into the territory to avoid being disarmed.
Two peacekeepers have been killed in gunbattles with the militia gangs in East Timor recently.
Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled to arrive in Atambua on Sunday to witness the disarmament of other militias and visit a refugee camp in the area (edt).