UN force chief to visit Dili on Sunday

By Budiman Moerdijat

DILI, East Timor (JP): An advance team of the UN-approved International Force in East Timor (Interfet) will arrive on Sunday for a three-hour visit here, the Head of the Restoration Operation Command in East Timor, Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri said on Saturday.

"I still have not officially heard anything from Jakarta about the arrival of the advance team. But I've been told by the Australian Embassy defense attache that at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday an advance team comprising 13 people led by Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove will arrive at Komoro Airport," he told a media briefing.

Kiki said the delegation would also include Interfet deputy commander Maj. Gen. Songkitti Jaggabatra of Thailand.

He said that during the brief visit, the team would hold talks with the Indonesian Military (TNI) to discuss the transfer of the mandate to restore order and security in the ravaged territory.

"We will discuss the Interfet's arrival schedule and plans to form a joint security consultative group, and this forum will jointly formulate operational procedures and rules of engagement," he said.

He said the transfer of the mandate to the multinational forces was expected to be held in the middle or at the end of next week. "But it still depends on Jakarta's decision."

He said as of Friday the military had confiscated 48 homemade rifles and detained at least 25 people -- mainly security personnel -- for looting and violating other rules. Some of the soldiers were caught wearing the Aitarak militia uniform.

Kiki said 20 percent of the 7,000 TNI troops initially deployed to East Timor remained in the territory, and that the military would continue to withdraw its troops.

Earlier in the day, military troops and a company of the Elite Police Mobile Brigade were seen pulling out of the territory.

The town was relatively quiet. Although some 30 members of the pro-Jakarta Aitarak militia were seen carrying homemade rifles and sharp weapons on the streets, there were fewer militiamen roaming the streets.

Most buildings have been burned and destroyed, including the Mahkota Hotel, where journalists and UN officials stayed in the run-up to the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot.

There are currently some 1,000 refugees sheltering in tents set up in a park in front of the hotel.

Some 100 refugees were sheltering at the Dili diocese, with several dozen others at Aitarak's headquarters and the governor's office. Military officials said the refugees were waiting to be evacuated aboard military trucks to the East Nusa Tenggara border town of Atambua.

Dili's Komoro Airport was deserted on Saturday afternoon, except for troops and police officers waiting to board an Air Force Hercules aircraft, and some 100 refugees, mostly women and children, who were to be flown to the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang.

Most of the refugees, who were guarded by military troops, wore red-and-white headbands, the color's of Indonesia's flag. Security personnel said the majority of the refugees were families of East Timorese soldiers.

From Darwin, Australian military officials said deployment of the UN-authorized force into East Timor was likely to be delayed until Monday at the earliest, after its Australian commander postponed a planned advance sortie to Dili.

A defense force source told AFP that Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, the commander of the force, would remain in Brisbane on Saturday and was likely to depart for Dili on Sunday.

"He's still in Brisbane and it's highly unlikely he'll be going anywhere today," the source said. "You can speculate that this means no troops will be going into East Timor before Monday."

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation national broadcaster said Australian Prime Minister John Howard was expected in Darwin on Sunday to "wave the troops off", but his spokesman denied this, saying the prime minister was awaiting advice from Cosgrove.

Howard will deliver a nationally televised address on Sunday about Australia's commitment to the multinational peacekeeping force and the risks involved.

Eighty Portuguese medical personnel are also in Darwin. Arriving this weekend in Darwin will be a 33-strong Thai detachment and a 120-member contingent from the Philippines, with a further 120 to follow.

A defense force spokesman said an initial deployment of 420 New Zealand troops would be airlifted to Darwin in several stages over the next few days.

Meanwhile, the first warships bound for East Timor set sail late Saturday afternoon from northern Australia.

The frigate HMAS Adelaide of the Australian navy pulled out of Darwin harbor shortly before 6 p.m. (4 p.m. Jakarta time). The destroyer HMS Glasgow of Britain's Royal Navy was following, witnesses at the dockside said.

Both vessels are equipped with guided missiles.

"The Navy group has been ordered to proceed to sea in support of operations in East Timor," Australian Defense Forces spokesman Steve Ridgeway said.

He said nine ships had left or were in the process of leaving Darwin wharf in two groups.

The fleet is part of an international force that will include thousands of peacekeepers. The force was set up by the United Nations Security Council to restore order in East Timor.

The violence-wracked territory is located about 600 kilometers from Darwin.

Australian media reported that there were only small numbers of ground troops aboard the ships, inferring that the actual troop deployment would follow shortly.

Defense sources called the ships' departure a "pre- positioning" of their naval firepower.

The first group of warships was made up of the HMAS Adelaide, and HMAS Anzac, both guided missile frigates, the supply ship HMAS Success and HMAS Tobruk.

The second group included three heavy landing craft, in addition to the HMS Glasgow and the New Zealand navy frigate Te Kaha.

A few yachts and motor cruisers accompanied the ships out of the harbor as the sun set into the Timor Sea.