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)