RI troops open fire as reunion turns into violence

RI troops open fire as reunion turns into violence

BATUGADE, East Timor (Reuters): Indonesian troops opened fire
at the sensitive Timor border on Saturday as a reunion of
families split by the conflict threatened to degenerate into
serious violence, witnesses said.

Around 200 rounds of automatic fire were let off by Indonesian
soldiers, shooting into the air near the main border crossing a
short distance from the town of Batugade. A local commander of
the multinational force Interfet, sent into East Timor last year,
said the United Nations would carry out an investigation.

In a few days a UN peacekeeping force will formally assume
control of security in devastated East Timor.

"It would appear a large volley of shots were fired by TNI
(Indonesian military) as warning shots," Lt. Col. Simon Gould,
commander of the contingent manning the border, told reporters.

"There is going to be an investigation by the UN over the
incident."

Multinational troops in East Timor did not open fire in the
incident and said there were no casualties. However, witnesses
reported at least one man with a gash to the head.

An Indonesian policeman was killed in October in an exchange
of fire near the same spot.

Gould insisted there were sufficient UN security forces,
including troops, unarmed civilian police and military observers
on the East Timor side. However, one military observer said the
presence was woefully inadequate.

Around 15,000 people had gathered at the site on Saturday for
a UN-sponsored event to bring refugees in West Timor together
with their relatives in East Timor. The month-old reunions are
credited with vastly increasing the number of returning refugees.

More than 100,000 refugees in West Timor have been given a
March 31 deadline by Jakarta to decide whether to remain in
Indonesia or return to their devastated homeland, now being
administered by the UN

Visitors to the camps in West Timor say the refugees are still
subject to harassment and have limited access to information
about the situation in East Timor.

Witnesses said the trouble started when East Timorese and
suspected anti-independence militiamen across the border began
taunting one another. There was also a report that an alleged
militiaman crossed into East Timor and tried to hit someone.

Rocks began being thrown and then the shooting continued for
about two to three minutes, witnesses said, as refugees scrambled
into the sea or ran back into West Timor for safety. Some
witnesses saw it as an attempt to sabotage the UN-backed reunion
days.

"I think this was a result of provocation by the militia,"
said Rafael Robillard, head of the International Organization of
Migration in West Timor.

Hundreds were killed and most of East Timor left in ruins last
September in a wave of violence after the territory voted for
independence from Indonesia. Anti-independence militia and their
military backers are accused of masterminding the violence.