UN gives troops right to use force

UN gives troops right to use force

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia suffered another international
indignity on Wednesday when the United Nations Security Council
voted to establish a multinational peacekeeping force with
maximum authority to restore order in ravaged East Timor.

The 15-member Security Council voted for the resolution which
invoked Chapter VII of the UN Charter to authorize use of
military force by the peacekeepers in carrying out their duties,
Reuters reported.

The foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal, Ali Alatas
and Jaime Gama, attended the council meeting held in the early
hours.

Several hours earlier UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan formally
asked Australia to lead the force, overruling Indonesian
objections to Canberra's participation in the mission.

"The secretary-general has asked Australia to lead a
multinational force and we have agreed to do that," Australian
foreign minister Alexander Downer said after talks with Annan,
Alatas and Gama.

Meanwhile in New Zealand, U.S. President Bill Clinton urged
Indonesia to put an immediate stop to the killings in East Timor.

"What I would like them to do, now that they have asked the
United Nations to come in, is simply to stop the most egregious
forms of violence and let the (non-governmental) organizations
provide humanitarian relief right now," Clinton said at a news
conference in Auckland.

"It may become a moot point within 72 to 96 hours, but in two
or three days a lot of people could die."

Jakarta bowed on Sunday to international pressure to let a UN
peacekeeping force into East Timor to stop the violence which
erupted after the United Nations announced on Sep. 4 the results
of a historic ballot to determine the territory's status.

Nearly 80 percent of East Timorese rejected autonomy within
Indonesia for independence.

Much of the violence was blamed on pro-Indonesian militias,
with claims by East Timorese, UN officials and journalists that
Indonesian security forces were either aiding the terror
campaigns or turning a blind eye when hundreds of thousands were
forced to flee their homes.

While officially accepting the presence of a UN peacekeeping
force without preconditions, the Indonesian Military and
political parties have protested the inclusion of Australia and
Portugal, arguing that Asians should provide the bulk of the
soldiers in such a mission.

The use of Chapter VII's provision of force for peacekeepers
in East Timor stemmed from the bitter experience of UN
peacekeeping forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They were virtual
sitting ducks because they did not have the authority to use
force in controlling unrest in the Balkans.

The British-drafted Security Council resolution did not spell
out the size or composition of the force, but Australia, at the
request of the United Nations, has begun its organization,
expected to consist of up to 8,000 troops from more than half a
dozen countries.

Among nations offering troops are Fiji, the Philippines,
Malaysia, South Korea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, as well as Britain,
Canada, France, Argentina and New Zealand. China offered to send
civilian police.

UN and Australian officials said advance units were expected
to be in East Timor by the weekend.

Annan conferred with Alatas, Downer and Gama throughout the
day on the composition of the international force.

Australia has offered 4,500 troops and has thousands of
soldiers on 24-hour alert in Darwin, an hour's flight from East
Timor.

Alatas acknowledged that Australia was best positioned to head
the operation, saying he placed no preconditions on the
composition or the leadership of the force.

"Australians are best prepared to send troops and we discussed
the possibility of when they could come, whether other countries
would be there in the first batch, so to speak," he told
reporters.

He told the council earlier that it was "imperative that the
multinational force conduct itself in an impartial manner so that
its presence in East Timor will be credible".

"We are also of the view that countries in the Association of
South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) region are uniquely placed to
serve in the multinational force as they, more than any other
countries, understand the regional characteristics."

Downer said he assured Alatas that the force would be truly
international, including participation by Asian nations in the
region.

"This is a sensitive issue for Indonesia and we understand
that," he said.

"We look forward to working with regional and other countries
to build a genuinely multinational force."

He added that the force was "willing to assist in the process
of reconciliation in whatever way we can."

Gama said the sole precondition for the force was to "respond
to the shocking situation on the ground" in East Timor.

"The force must be strong and effective enough, not only to
immediately restore peace and stability, but also to make
fulfillment of the New York agreements possible."

East Timorese resistance leader Jose Ramos-Horta blamed
Indonesian troops for the atrocities and said they should
withdraw immediately.

"The security must be entirely in the hands of a multinational
force," the Nobel Peace Prize laureate told reporters near the
doors of the Security Council chambers.

"Having Indonesian troops along with the multinational force
is an insult to the people of East Timor. And beyond that, it
creates a situation that can turn very explosive."

It would be impossible to control the emotions of the East
Timorese after the events of the past few weeks, he said.

"Indonesian soldiers must leave as expeditiously as they can.
Those that decide to stay must be confined completely to their
barracks. The security must be entirely, exclusively in the hands
of the multinational force.

"Indonesian troops must leave. They have no right to be there
at all," he added.

East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao said
Indonesian soldiers now in the territory must be replaced by
fresh troops if Indonesian forces were to cooperate with the UN
force.

"They must be replaced by troops that can be accepted by the
people ... those who can work together with the UN troops," he
said during a nationally televised debate in Jakarta.

The Indonesian troops could be "anyone, but not those who have
been there before", Gusmao said via video link from the British
embassy where he has stayed since he was freed from house arrest
last week.

Australia, the launching pad for the international force, said
troops could be in East Timor by the weekend, now that both
Indonesia and the United Nations had given the go-ahead, Reuters
said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who has pushed for an
international force to end the violence, said: "It is an historic
resolution. It is a major hurdle cleared."

But Howard said he didn't think Australian troops would meet
hostility from the Indonesian army in East Timor.

"I don't for a moment think that we are going to encounter
open hostilities from the Indonesians," he said.

His defence minister, John Moore, said the force could be in
East Timor by the weekend or the following Monday.

In Darwin, the northern Australian port that will serve as a
springboard for the 8,000-strong force, Australian troops put in
final training for their most important -- and perhaps most
dangerous -- mission since the Vietnam war.

Australia has at least 2,000 troops on 24-hour alert in
Darwin, which is an hour's flight from East Timor's capital Dili.

"Being Australian soldiers we can always adapt and overcome,"
said one young soldier of the challenge ahead.