Militias, military linked, says Marzuki

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Friday that the Indonesian Military (TNI) should not continue denying it has a connection with militias currently operating in West Timor.

"It's no use for the military to keep denying the fact that the militias are backed and aided by them," Marzuki said.

He also pointed out that one of the consequences of the relationship between the militias and the military was that disarming the former would be difficult.

"It's not that simple to disarm, let alone dismiss militia groups, for there is a psychological relationship between old elements in the TNI, recent troops deployed in East Nusa Tenggara and the displaced militias," he told journalists at his office.

The Indonesian government has pledged to disarm the militias next week following a bloody incident in the border town of Atambua earlier this month when a mob attacked the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office and killed three aid workers.

The attack occurred following news that ex-militia leader Olivio Moruk had been murdered the previous night.

Marzuki earlier revealed that among the 13 suspects in the two incidents, at least one was connected to the military.

Pressed by journalists again on Friday if there was TNI involvement in the attack, Marzuki confirmed that a "military member" was involved in the raid that occurred on Sept. 6.

That date is the day a mob ran amok and attacked the UNHCR office.

Meanwhile on Thursday, UN personnel marched at the world body's headquarters in New York and Geneva demanding better protection during their missions in some of the most dangerous places in the world.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told hundreds of staffers taking part in the solidarity march that more needed to be done to protect those working to help people caught in conflict zones. Hundreds more took part in a similar march at the UN European headquarters in Switzerland.

"We are taking all measures to strengthen security, to work with the governments concerned to ensure the security of our staff," Annan said as quoted by Reuters

The demonstrations in New York and Geneva were intended to draw attention to the killings of their colleagues over the last three weeks in Atambua and the West African nation of Guinea.

Since 1992, 198 UN workers have been killed on duty, 30 of whom worked for UNHCR. (bby)