UN return to W. Timor still not possible

UN return to W. Timor still not possible

JAKARTA (JP): A visiting UN official said here on Tuesday the
security situation on the Indonesian side of the Timor border
remained volatile, making it difficult for international relief
workers to return there.

"It is very important that the security situation in West
Timor can be guaranteed (so that) the UN workers can return,"
said Harri Holkeri, the president of the UN General Assembly.

"But at the moment it is not possible because of the presence
of militia forces," he said after meeting with President
Abdurrahman Wahid.

Three UN relief workers were killed in a militia attack in the
East Nusa Tenggara town of Atambua on Sept. 6.

The deaths sparked international outrage and resulted in the
exodus of some 400 foreign aid personnel who were working with
about 130,000 East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara.

"What happened in Atambua is not encouraging the UN workers to
return until better security guarantees are given," Holkeri said.

The UN Security Council has called on Jakarta to disband and
disarm the militias, which fled across the border into West Timor
when foreign troops arrived to quell the violence in East Timor
following the August 1999 UN-sponsored self-determination
referendum.

Holkeri said Abdurrahman told him the UN and Jakarta had a
common goal of establishing peace on the border between East
Timor and Indonesia.

"The final goal must be that the border between East Timor and
Indonesia will be a normal peaceful line with free access for
people to come and go and to have social, political and economic
contacts," Holkeri said.

Earlier, Attorney General Marzuki Darusman admitted there were
still "obstacles" in disbanding and disarming the militias.

He said, however, the government had taken some action against
the militias, referring to the trial of notorious militia leader
Eurico Guterres.

The trial of Eurico began in Jakarta on Jan. 2, with
prosecutors accusing him of inciting people to oppose security
authorities, a crime that is punishable by up to six years in
jail.

Eurico is on trial for allegedly ordering his men to take back
weapons they had handed over to the authorities during a ceremony
in Atambua in September.

Marzuki said he told Holkeri "the situation (in West Timor) is
already under control", adding that the government did not
recognize the existence of militia units and had declared that
they had been disbanded.

But he admitted "the weapons surrender has not yet been
completed", although it is impossible to say how many weapons
were in the hands of the militias.

Suspects

In a related development, the North Jakarta District Court
postponed on Tuesday the trials of the six prointegration East
Timorese charged with murdering three United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) staff as some of the defendants
were sick.

The six defendants are tried in two separate trials for their
alleged roles in the murder of three humanitarian workers, Fero
Simundza, Carlos de Seros and Samson Aregafoe, in Atambua, East
Nusa Tenggara, on Sept. 6 last year. Prosecutors said the
defendants also burned the bodies of the victims.

The trials, which were scheduled to hear defense lawyers'
response to the indictment, will resume next week.

Lawyer Suhardi Somomeolyono told The Jakarta Post that one his
clients, Julius Naesama, told him on Sunday by phone that he was
sick and had asked the Selemba Penitentiary doctor to examine
him.

"But my client's request was ignored," Suhardi said. He took
Julius on Monday to the National Police hospital in East Jakarta
for a medical check up, and the doctor said Julius was positively
suffering from dengue fever.

He said that three other defendants were also ill and
requested the judges to pay attention to their health conditions.
(01/byg)