UN peacekeepers clash with militia in E. Timor
UN peacekeepers clash with militia in E. Timor
DILI (Agencies): Australian peacekeepers exchanged fire with
armed militia in the East Timor border area on Tuesday, the eve
of the anniversary of the territory's independence vote, senior
UN officials said.
No casualties were reported on either side, Lt. Col. Brynjar
Nymo, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force, told AFP here.
Nymo said an Australian patrol spotted "two individuals in
camouflage (uniforms), at least one of them with a rifle," and
challenged them.
"The militia fired and the Australians returned fire," he
said, adding the incident took place about 12:40 p.m. (11:40 a.m.
Jakarta time), some 10 kilometers northeast of the township of
Maliana.
Maliana lies 75 kilometers southwest of Dili.
Earlier Sergio Vieira de Mello, the head of the UN
transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) told AFP the
militia had pointed weapons at the Australians.
De Mello warned that peacekeepers would take tough action
against pro-Jakarta militiamen roaming the territory if they
refuse to lay down their weapons.
He said he hoped some of the estimated 120 militiamen
operating in East Timor would surrender soon and go back to their
villages.
UN military officials say the pro-Jakarta militias, possibly
supported by rogue elements of the Indonesian military in
neighboring West Timor, have entered East Timor in greater force
than at any time since they were forced out by the arrival of
foreign troops late last year.
De Mello on Tuesday had said in a televised interview with
Australian media that he would press Indonesian leaders this week
to take immediate action against militias still terrorizing the
East Timorese.
De Mello also said UN forces would launch a leaflet drop on
Tuesday to advise any militia in East Timor to surrender or face
arrest within weeks.
"We hope finally the Indonesian government will take the
action we have been expecting from them since we arrived here in
October of last year, which is to disarm them, to disband them,
to arrest them and to transfer them away from our borders," he
said.
"The inviolability of international borders is a sacrosanct
principle of international law which the militia are violating
because they are thugs and because they have nothing else to
offer except the language of force and violence," he told
Australian television.
He said UN forces estimated there are 100 to 150 militia men
in East Timor where they have killed or wounded a number of UN
personnel in recent weeks.
"We are attempting to establish what their intentions are. We
hope that some if not many of them will agree to lay down their
arms and surrender.
UN peacekeepers have stepped up patrols in the border areas of
East Timor in anticipation they will try to stage dramatic
incidents to derail festivities set for Wednesday to celebrate
the first anniversary of East Timor's vote to separate from
Indonesia.
On Aug. 30, 1999, an overwhelming 78.5 percent of East
Timorese voted for independence, the announcement of which on
Sept. 4 unleashed a wave of violence against East Timorese.