U.S. bans use of American weapons in East Timor

U.S. bans use of American weapons in East Timor

WASHINGTON (Agencies): The United States on Wednesday banned
the use in East Timor of weapons supplied to Indonesia and
continued a ban on education and training aid to the Indonesian
Armed Forces.

President Bill Clinton signed the restrictions into law as
part of a massive US$500 billion catch-all spending bill sent to
him by Congress on Wednesday, which included U.S. foreign aid
programs.

With this legislation, Washington stated that any weapons sold
to Indonesia could not be used in East Timor, Reuters said.

"This could be the most support any Congress has shown for
East Timorese rights since Indonesia first invaded it in 1975,"
the East Timor Action Network said.

Indonesia insists East Timor integrated into the country in
1976, one year after it entered the territory to help quell a
local civil war. The United Nations still regards Portugal as the
administering power of its former colony.

The group's Washington representative Lynn Fredriksson said
the action was seen as a signal to President B.J. Habibie and the
Indonesian military that the United States continued to find "the
occupation of East Timor unacceptable".

Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul
Maarif could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Training between the two countries is banned under a program
known as International Military Education and Training (IMET) but
continues under a separate program known as Joint Combined
Exchange Training, run by the Pentagon.

The U.S. administration has defended the training against
congressional criticism as a way to enhance American military
readiness and increase U.S. engagement with Indonesia.

Congress cut Indonesian military participation in IMET in 1992
in response to the November 1991 shooting in Dili, the East Timor
capital.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday
pro-independence violence appeared to have died down in East
Timor.

Annan, who last week appealed for an end to violence in East
Timor, also said UN-mediated talks with Indonesia about the
future of the territory appeared to be going smoothly.

Anti-Indonesian protests broke out after Governor Abilio Jose
Osorio Soares told civil servants they risked being fired if they
opposed Indonesia's proposals on granting autonomy, but not
independence, to East Timor.

"We were worried about the violence that we noticed in the
(East Timor) region," Annan told a news conference during a visit
to Tokyo.

"From the accounts that I'm receiving, it seems that it has
died down but I can't say that it is entirely over," Annan said.

He said the UN also wants Indonesia to cut its troop numbers
in East Timor and release political prisoners as part of a peace
settlement.

"They (Indonesia) have indicated that will be done, so we will
be monitoring that very closely," Annan said.

ABRI recently pulled out combat troops from the territory, and
those who remain are said to be involved only in community
development programs.

Antara reported on Thursday that the United Nations assistant
to the secretary-general, Tamrat Samuel, had made a sudden visit
to Baucau, some 130 kilometers east of Dili, to meet with Bishop
Basilio do Nascimento.

Bishop Basilio was among the organizers of last month's talks
among East Timor figures in Dare. The meeting issued the Dare
communique which among others recognized two aspirations
regarding East Timor: the preference for a referendum and the
preference for the government's proposal of special autonomy.

Samuel arrived in Dili on Wednesday and had talks with local
government officials, pro-autonomy groups and Dili diocese Bishop
Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo.

On Tuesday, Samuel met with jailed resistance leader Jose
Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao in Jakarta's Cipinang penitentiary who
he said had been "very responsive" to the results of the August
UN-sponsored talks between Indonesia and Portugal in New York.