TNI promises tighter border security after militia attack

TNI promises tighter border security after militia attack

Yemris Fointuna and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post
Jakarta/Kuala Lumpur

The military commander overseeing the West Timor province
promised tighter security along its border with East Timor where
one person died on Monday in an attack allegedly staged by pro
Jakarta militia who crossed the border to West Timor.

East Nusa Tenggara military chief Col. Moeswarno Moesanip said
the Indonesian military (TNI) would not allow West Timor to
become a base for militia activities.

"We don't want them here and surely don't want to facilitate
their activities," Moeswarno said, adding "we will tighten
security."

He said he had at his disposal two battalions, which would
amount to 2,000 soldiers.

The East Timor government planned to hold an emergency meeting
after an armed group attacked a bus in a rural area southeast of
the capital Dili on Monday, AFP reported quoting the Lusa news
agency.

At least one died and three people sustained injuries. The
bus, carrying at least 10 passengers, was ambushed near the town
of Ribeira de Loes.

The attack came just a day after deputy commander of the
United Nations peace keeping force, Brig. Gen. Justin Kelly said
pro-Indonesia militias had launched a "terrorist strategy" to
destabilize East Timor.

Last month five civilians were killed in an attack in East
Timor, which eyewitnesses said was carried out by pro-Indonesia
militias.

The militias, backed by members of the Indonesian military,
burnt destroyed the country and killed hundreds of East Timorese
when the population overwhelmingly voted for independence in a UN
sponsored poll in 1999.

Thousands were forced to flee to West Timor, most of whom
returned, but many militia members remain in West Timor, as some
fear prosecution if they return. Indonesia has made no effort to
bring to justice the thousands of militia fighters, even though
some of the leaders have been tried in a human rights trial.

Kelly is now warning of infiltration from a group of militia
members, launching attacks from across the border in Indonesia.

But East Timor stopped short of accusing the Indonesian
government of backing the militias. The Australian government,
which has UN peacekeepers in East Timor, dismissed suspicion that
TNI was supporting the militias.

Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda
responded with frustration to the latest attack and accusations.
"I am tired of dealing with similar accusations over and over
again," Hassan said in Kuala Lumpur.

He said he recently met his East Timor counterpart Jose Ramos
Horta who said nothing about the militia problems.

Hassan said the attacks were simply riots among the East
Timorese suffering from years of economic problems.

Unemployment remains widespread and the country continues to
rely on foreign aid three and a half years since it won the
independence vote.

"Without evidence and facts, accusations of militias operating
in West Timor are simply false," he said.

He said that among the around 220,000 refugees who returned to
East Timor, 8,000 were former militia members.

"If these people now stir problems in East Timor, that's their
problem," he said.