UN troops seen to stay years in Timor
UN troops seen to stay years in Timor
CANBERRA (Agencies): Australian Defense Minister John Moore said on Monday that he expected a United Nations force to stay in East Timor for years to secure a true peace.
"It's going to be longer rather than shorter," Moore told BBC radio from Australia, which is leading the UN deployment.
"The duration of a force, I think, will be certainly medium to long term."
Asked if that meant years rather than months, Moore replied: "Yes."
Last month, the people of East Timor voted overwhelmingly for independence from Indonesia in a ballot that prompted widespread violence.
The multinational force, which will eventually number about 7,500 troops from more than 20 nations, was created by the United Nations with a mandate to use "all necessary measures" to stop the killing and facilitate humanitarian aid for hundreds of thousands of refugees.
Moore said there was no resistance so far, despite fears that pro-Jakarta militias might confront the international force.
"We're not anticipating any problems really. To date there's been no problems," said Moore. "This morning, there's full cooperation. There's no sign of hindrance and we expect the deployment will go ahead without any hiccoughs at all."
As for the long term, Moore said the exact nature of the deployment depended on Indonesian legislators but an international presence would be needed for years in any case.
If the Indonesian parliament went along with the results of the August 30 referendum, then the nature of the UN force would change from peacekeeping to more of a "trusteeship", meaning fewer troops and more technical experts, said Moore.
However, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Monday that Australia's lead role in the multinational peacekeeping force in East Timor could be wound up before Christmas.
Addressing the Australian parliament after the deployment of some 2,000 troops in East Timor, Downer said the International Force for East Timor (Interfet) would probably complete its task in three months.
"Our expectation is that will take between two and three months, probably nearer three than two if the assembling of such particular types of operation in the past is any guide," Downer said.
Separately, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Sunday warned pro-Indonesia militias not to confront the multinational peacekeeping force.
"I think we have tried to put in a force that has the right strength, the right structure and the capacity to defend its mandate and itself," Annan told the Cable News Network (CNN) programme "Late Edition."
The peacekeeping force, Annan said, is prepared to strike back if attacked.
"I would hope the militia will not try to take them on, because they will defend themselves," Annan said.
Annan also said that the Indonesian military, which he blamed for the violence in East Timor since its electorate voted to become independent, has been instructed to harness the militias.
"The Indonesian military cooperated or acquiesced or ignored what was going on in East Timor," he said. "How far up in the military chain this goes I do not know. But it is clear the military on the ground did cooperate."
In a related development, the United Nations said it would begin rebuilding its mission in the ravaged East Timor capital Dili on Monday after a quick, and so far peaceful, deployment of a multinational force to the strife-torn territory.
"We want to have a functioning headquarters as soon as possible," UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) spokesman David Wimhurst said in Darwin.
UNAMET staff and about 1,500 East Timorese, who sought refuge in the UN mission's Dili compound, were forced to evacuate last week.
Wimhurst said UNAMET chief Ian Martin had already returned to Dili and was set to be followed by about a dozen staff on Monday.
Meanwhile, East Timor's Nobel peace prize winner, Bishop Carlos Belo, said on Sunday he would return to Dili when the city was calm and a multi-nation peacekeeping force had deployed across the territory.
Asked when he would return to the East Timorese capital, he told Reuters: "When the UN force is in all towns and cities (of East Timor) and when Dili is calm."
Bishop Belo said he did not know how much longer he would remain in Portugal. He was speaking after celebrating Mass in the central city of Fatima.
Last week Bishop Belo met Pope John Paul at the Vatican to brief him on the situation in East Timor. He fled the territory after pro-Jakarta militias attacked his house earlier this month.