Troop withdrawal from Timor concluded: ABRI

JAKARTA (JP): The Armed Forces has claimed to have withdrawn all its combat troops stationed in the troubled province of East Timor with 600 soldiers pulled out yesterday in the third and final wave of a pullout totaling 1,300 soldiers.

Speaking to reporters after a simple farewell ceremony for the 600 soldiers at Dili port, East Timor Military Chief Col. Tono Suratman cited East Timor's excellent security condition as the main reason for the troop reduction.

"Now, there are no more combat troops here. What we have are just 5,000 territorial soldiers deployed across the 13 regencies," Tono was quoted by Antara.

Tono hinted that further withdrawals may be on the way.

"If the security situation becomes better, we will make more withdrawals, so that only a native force will remain here," he said. Yesterday's troop withdrawal was part the government's much-hyped efforts to show that it is willing to bend on the issue of East Timor. Initially, it was said that 1,000 soldiers would be withdrawn, However, with yesterday's batch, the number has risen to 1,300.

The first stage of withdrawals took place with much fanfare on July 28, when nearly 400 troops boarded the Teluk Saleh warship and sailed to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, and Jakarta.

On Wednesday, another 300 were pulled out.

The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as part of Indonesia in 1976. The United Nations does not recognize the integration and continues to sponsor a dialog between the Indonesian foreign minister and Portuguese foreign minister to find an internationally acceptable solution to the issue.

Yesterday's troop withdrawal comes on the heels of Thursday's conclusion of two days of talks between the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers.

The meeting reached breakthrough when Portugal agreed to discuss further Indonesia's proposal to give East Timor special autonomy status. The two sides also agreed to open interest sections at their respective capitals.

The issue of troop withdrawals has been a much-debated topic because activists and community leaders have claimed that soldiers have often been the perpetrators of various human rights violations.

The Armed Forces maintains that there is a security disturbance presence in the form of a small, albeit active, number of separatist guerillas.

Furthermore, top military leaders claim that many of the soldiers in the province are there to fulfill a civic duty of helping with development projects.

Tono, in his farewell address to the troops, barely touched on the question of rights violations.

"We have to admit that we are not free from shortcomings and weaknesses during our assignment here. We must take it as a lesson to improve our performance in the future," Tono said.

Tono dismissed speculation that the withdrawal was merely a public relations ploy, adding that outside observers were not needed to monitor the pullout.

"I don't think we need such a team. You journalists can monitor it pretty well and report it in your respective media," the colonel remarked. (prb)