TNI out to uphold border security: Kiki

TNI out to uphold border security: Kiki

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Chief of the Udayana Military Command
Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri said on Tuesday the Indonesian Military
(TNI) was doing its best to maintain security along the East
Timor border, including a sweep which confiscated hundreds of
weapons.

"Such sweeps have been conducted on former prointegration
militia members since the ballot in East Timor," he said, adding
that 291 firearms were confiscated.

Although he said most of the weapons were homemade devices and
old rifles from the Portuguese colonial era, he acknowledged some
were standard TNI weapons which were lost during the postballot
mayhem.

Kiki is scheduled to meet United Nations Transitional
Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) chief Jaime de los Santos on
Wednesday. The latter visited Jakarta last week to complain about
repeated militia incursions into East Timor from East Nusa
Tenggara, the Indonesian half of Timor island.

UNTAET claimed there were 16 incidents in the last four weeks
near the border, which it alleged were perpetrated by
prointegration militias.

President Abdurrahman Wahid also reportedly said he was
"concerned and unhappy" with the reports of militia attacks.

But Kiki and TNI spokesman Graito Usodo expressed regret on
Tuesday that TNI was being made a scapegoat for the incidents.

"It's ironic that all the incidents were said to be the work
of the Indonesian side," Kiki said. He contended the military had
no interest in backing the incursions.

"Why would we incite people to conduct criminal acts when we
gain nothing from them?"

Graito lamented that much of TNI's good work was often ignored
by foreign journalists.

"In the eyes of the (foreign) media, it seems that Indonesia
is the cause of everything."

Kiki said border security was also equally the responsibility
of UNTAET.

He said many of the reported incidents occurred in Atsabe,
Maliana and Ermera, which were considerable distances from the
border.

"They're located far from the border ... Atsabe is 80
kilometers from the border."

He said the incidents could have been perpetrated by people
who returned to East Timor.

"Many of those who returned are still prointegrationists. So
the incident in Atsabe could be caused by those already there."

He said the area was a prointegration stronghold dating back
to 1974, before the territory's integration into Indonesia.

Customary ruler of Atsabe Guillermo Dos Santos was the second
governor of East Timor province.

Kiki questioned the inability of UNTAET, with its
sophisticated equipment, to maintain security while Indonesia was
doing its best with 689 soldiers covering a 155-kilometer border
area.

"They have the Black Hawk helicopters, night-vision goggles,
the sophisticated radars. So why can't they catch these
infiltrators?"

In Dili, East Timor, U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Robert
Gelbard said elements of the Indonesian Military were providing
direct support for the incursions into East Timor's territory.

Gelbard said he did not agree with UN peacekeepers who said
that while TNI was turning a blind eye to militia activity, there
was no evidence of active logistical or other support.

"There is TNI involvement. We were told all the militias had
been disarmed, (yet) suddenly and magically they seem to have
come up with arms," Gelbard said as quoted by AP.

"But I do believe this is not TNI policy. These are probably
individuals who have maintained their long-standing ties to the
militias and maybe some remnants of some specialized units."

Separately, East Timor leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao
accused the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) and former TNI chief
Gen. Wiranto of being behind the incursions.

In an interview published in Tuesday's edition of the Sydney
Morning Herald, Gusmao said the incursions were aimed at
destroying the reputation of UNTAET.

"Maybe they would like to prove that (the UN peacekeeping
force) is weak and will not go on the offense," he said.

"Based on what has been happening, I think UNTAET and the UN
peacekeeping force must reevaluate their strategies in facing the
border problem." (zen/mds)