Two militiamen killed in East Timor clashes

JAKARTA (JP): The Australian led multinational force in East Timor on Wednesday killed two militiamen in the first clashes since they began their mission in the territory.

Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, commander of the International Force for East Timor (Interfet), said in East Timor's capital of Dili that the militia fighters were shot dead when they ambushed an Interfet convoy near the town of Suai.

The Australian troops were injured, but not seriously, Cosgrove said. They were evacuated to Dili and may be taken to Darwin, Australia.

Troops from Britain and New Zealand were also in the convoy, Cosgrove said.

"This is the first time that Interfet soldiers have been wounded directly by enemy action," Cosgrove said as quoted by AFP.

"It is the first time that Interfet have regrettably been called upon to take lethal action against an adversary."

The clash happened at 5:25 p.m. local time and took place inside the area Interfet was mandated to secure, Cosgrove said.

"It was well and truly a sneak attack," the Australian commanding officer said.

Earlier in the day, two militia members were wounded in the legs when they tried to speed through an Interfet roadblock, he added. Interfet troops opened fire, shooting out the militia vehicle's tires.

Two other militiamen were slightly injured in the incident.

A number of militia from the group that had tried to run the roadblock were then taken to a drop-off point. It was as the peacekeepers returned from dropping the militiamen off at a location which Cosgrove did not specify that the Interfet convoy was ambushed.

Wednesday's incident was the first sign militia members were actually prepared to take on the heavily-armed troops in the Australian-led force.

Meanwhile Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo made an emotional return to his devastated homeland on Wednesday after fleeing East Timor at the height of violance following the Aug. 30 ballot.

The Roman Catholic bishop smiled broadly as he was embraced by nuns, priests and a handful of others after he stepped off a private flight from Darwin, Australia.

AP reported that after arriving in Dili, he later departed for the eastern city of Baucau to meet the territory's other Catholic bishop Basilio do Nascimento.

Later in the afternoon Belo, guarded by two members of the Australian special forces armed with submachine guns equipped with silencers, returned to his Dili house.

Col. Mark Kelly, chief of staff for the Australian-led peacekeeping force known as Interfet, said his troops would provide protection for the bishop.

Belo is the first major figure to return to the territory. Resistance leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao has set his homecoming for mid-October.

People who have returned from their hideouts in the hills surrounding Dili have started clearing debris from their ruined houses and rebuilding their devastated hometown.

A Dili native, Fabliano dos Santos, told The Jakarta Post by phone on Wednesday that some of the residents found decomposed bodies dumped in ditches while clearing up their properties. But he did not elaborate when and where these finds took place.

"We will continue the clearance of our town, while expecting to discover more bodies. I believe the incoming UN High Commission on Human Rights mission will find a lot of bodies," he said.

Like many other East Timorese who descended from hills, Fabliano has occupied a house which was left vacant by its owner. Fabliano's house in Fatuhada subdistrict in the western part of Dili was burned down during the rampaging violence last month.

UNTAET

From Sydney, AFP quoted Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as saying that the country planned to scale back its contribution to international peacekeeping duties in East Timor as the UN took over the running.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan recommended on Tuesday the establishment of a major UN military and civilian operation as part of a plan to shepherd East Timor to independence in two to three years.

He proposed a UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to include almost 9,000 troops with strong powers as well as 200 military observers and more than 1,500 police.

Australia now has 3,500 troops in East Timor out of a force currently totaling 4,600, but building up to 7,500 with contributions from New Zealand, Britain, France, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

"It is certainly the view of the Australian government that we would like to see the move to the fully fledged United Nations peacekeeping operation as soon as possible," Downer said.

"It is hard to predict when that will happen but conceivably that could be in two or three months, perhaps nearer three than two months."

Meanwhile, a first contingent of troops from Thailand, the second in command of Interfet, arrived in Dili on Wednesday. The 78 troops flew in to the East Timor capital on two C-130 Hercules transporter planes from Darwin, northern Australia.

The contingent included the second in command of the force Maj. Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatara, a Thai army spokesman in Bangkok told AFP. Thailand is contributing some 1,581 troops to the mission.

Thai soldiers had taken up positions in Dili by late afternoon, witnesses said.

With security conditions in the former Portuguese colony showing improvement, the government will start on Friday the repatriation of East Timorese seeking refuge in West Timor.

Spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara administration, Nani Kosapilawan, told Antara in Kupang that seven Cabinet ministers, 12 ambassadors of neighboring countries and representatives of some international nongovernmental organizations would see off the refugees.

Kosapilawan said the foreign envoys and international NGO staff were invited to the event and could expect to witness themselves what actually will happen to the refugees. (33/amd)