Police advocate militia chiefs appointment
Police advocate militia chiefs appointment
DILI, East Timor (JP): East Timor Police chief Col. G.M.
Timbul Silaen defended on Wednesday the appointment of Eurico
Guteres and Manuel Sousa, as leaders of civilian militia forces,
locally known as Pam Swakarsa.
"They will be in charge of maintaining security under the
coordination of the Indonesian Police," he said.
When asked if the two were allegedly involved in a "cleansing"
operation in Dili and Liquica, Silaen said: "We have yet to find
evidence that Guteres and Sousa were involved in the recent
murders. People can report to the police if the two men were
involved."
Guteres and Sousa are leaders of prointegration Aitarak and
Barisan Merah Putih militia groups, which are both accused of
being responsible for the massacre of dozens of supporters of
proindependence groups.
Silaen admitted that the police arrested members of Barisan
Merah Putih for involvement in the murders. "But the suspects
admitted to acting on their own. They were not ordered by
anybody," he added.
He explained Guteres and Sousa joined Pam Swakarsa militia of
their own will.
"Members of Pam Swakarsa are responsible for their own
neighborhood," he said, adding that the police would only train
the members' on how to secure the neighborhoods.
The members would only be equipped with sticks, instead of
being armed with weaponry, he said.
On Tuesday, militia leader Basilio Araujo told AFP some of the
militia "regrouped" as members of Pam Swakarsa.
"If the government does not organize these (militia) groups,
then these groups may act out of control," said Araujo, of the
pro-Indonesia Forum for Unity, Democracy and Justice.
Separately, East Timor Military District chief Col. Tono
Suratman confirmed on Wednesday that five illegal flights had
been detected entering East Timor last month.
He said that the local authorities were still investigating
the penetration of the choppers into East Timor territory before
the arrival of the United Nation Assistance Mission.
"We are still investigating what the choppers really did,"
Tono said, adding that he had reported the case to his superiors.
Tono said two of the five illegal flights were done by
unidentified helicopters which landed in Viqueque regency about
197 kilometers east of Dili.
He explained that the Indonesian Military (TNI) had deployed
three ships to help maintain security on the water south of East
Timor over the last two weeks.
"Besides the ships, we have also stationed airplanes in East
Timor ahead of the Aug. 8 ballot," Tono said.
Meanwhile, David Wimhurst, the UN mission's spokesman, said in
Dili on Wednesday that another 250 UN vehicles were scheduled to
arrive in the province within the next 10 days.
The vehicles would be transported by 10 airplanes, he said.
(33/jun)