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.