Troops too late to stop E. Timor mayhem: General

Troops too late to stop E. Timor mayhem: General

JAKARTA (JP): Former chief of restoration command in East
Timor Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri admitted on Wednesday that
reinforcement troops arrived too late to stop the mayhem in the
territory.

Speaking after two hours of questioning by the government-
sanctioned Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations
(KPP HAM) in East Timor, Kiki said that when he arrived in Dili
on Sept. 7, the city "was already finished".

"Shops were looted and two regencies, Manatuto and Los Palos,
were burned down completely," Kiki, who is now chief the Udayana
Military Command overseeing security in Bali and Nusa Tenggara,
said.

Kiki said the violence which raged after the announcement of
the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot in East Timor had not been
unexpected as the Army had prepared two brigades of reinforcement
troops to be deployed in East Timor.

He said, however, the Indonesian Military (TNI) did not expect
the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) to announce the
result of the ballot on Sept. 4, some three days sooner than the
earlier schedule.

"Our calculation was that the result would be announced on
schedule, so when it was announced on Sept. 4, the reinforcement
troops were still on their way," Kiki said.

He added that local troops, who were under the command of his
predecessor Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, were also not ready as they
were subject to a cantonment policy.

"Therefore it is logical and fair if we were considered to be
slow at that time," Kiki said.

Kiki was the ninth and last member of the military's top brass
to face questioning which began on Dec. 24 last year.

Contrary to Kiki's account, former foreign minister Ali
Alatas, who had his turn later in the day, said the decision to
advance the announcement of the result to Sept. 4 was not a
sudden move and "had already been discussed," including with
military representatives.

Alatas said the announcement of the result of the ballot could
be made earlier because "all the ballot papers had already been
collected in the (museum) building in Dili."

"There was a miscalculation by UNAMET ... they thought it
would take them until Sept. 7 to finish the counting, whereas, in
fact, the counting was completed much earlier," Alatas said.

"To prevent any leakage, UNAMET proposed to us the
acceleration of the announcement to Sept. 4. The date was then
discussed by Indonesia and Portugal and was agreed upon," he
said.

"It was known by every party involved and I assumed that the
decision made in Dili and in Jakarta was known to everyone,"
Alatas added.

Asked if he thought the late arrival of the military had been
intentional, Alatas said the theory "doesn't make sense."

The commission has claimed, based on preliminary
investigations and witness accounts, that TNI was involved in the
rampaging violence in East Timor after the ballot went against
Indonesia's autonomy offer.

TNI has denied the accusations, saying the violence was
neither premeditated nor controllable.

The inquiry was established in September by then president
B.J. Habibie after the government rejected calls for an
international inquiry that would look into the possibility of
setting up war crimes tribunals for Indonesian officers.(byg)