Wiranto to recommend early UN force in East Timor
By Imanuddin
DILI, East Timor (JP): Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto said on Saturday that he was ready to recommend that President B.J. Habibie allow the presence of a United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor sooner than November.
In a major departure from the official Indonesian position, Wiranto told journalists: "Bearing in mind the international pressure for a zero-accident rate in East Timor as soon as possible, we cannot rule out the possibility of accelerating the arrival of the peacekeeping force."
"I will raise this with the President," he said.
President Habibie has scheduled an emergency meeting for Sunday to discuss East Timor with Wiranto and other top generals and senior ministers.
Wiranto was in town to meet with a delegation of the United Nations Security Council to assess the situation in East Timor, which has been under a state of military emergency since Tuesday.
Indonesia has so far rejected international calls to let a United Nations force into East Timor. The territory descended into anarchy last week after the UN announced that nearly 80 percent of East Timorese voted for independence and 20 percent for integration with Indonesia.
Wiranto said he was voicing his personal view of the situation, and insisted that officially Indonesia could not accept the possibility of an international force in East Timor.
"They (the peacekeeping force) will come after MPR rules to separate East Timor from Indonesia in November," he said.
"Until then (the MPR ruling), East Timor remains a part of Indonesia. There is no need to bring the peacekeeping force in."
Under an agreement signed with the United Nations in May, Indonesia is responsible for security and order in East Timor before and after the Aug. 30 UN-sponsored ballot.
The United Nations will only assume that job after the Indonesian People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) meets in November to endorse the result of the ballot.
Coordinating Minister for Economic and Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita meanwhile said Indonesia would prefer any UN peacekeeping force to consist mainly of Asians.
"If there is to be a peacekeeping force, we would welcome more Asian contingents in it," Ginandjar told Reuters in an interview on Saturday in Auckland, where he is leading the Indonesian delegation at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings.
"This is an Asian problem and it would be best if Asia could be first given the opportunity to participate in the resolution of the difficulties," he said.
Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, the head of the Military Emergency Command in East Timor, told the Security Council delegation in Dili that violence and crime had significantly declined since the territory was put under martial law on Tuesday.
Kiki said the military was clamping down on both the proindependence and pro-Indonesian camps who committed violence or violated the curfew.
On Saturday, the military arrested 25 members of pro-Indonesia militia and seized 27 weapons from them, he said.
Some 9,000 soldiers have been deployed in East Timor to restore peace and order, he said.
Kiki said 85,121 East Timorese had left the territory, and another 121,188 have moved to temporary shelters waiting to be evacuated.
Martin Adjaba, a member of the delegation from Namibia, however, told The Jakarta Post later that he was not impressed, saying that he found conditions in East Timor "very shocking".
"We are not convinced that everything is fine here. The rate of violence declined only after many people had moved out of East Timor," Adjaba said.
During a tour of the town, the delegation and journalists who were flown in by the military for the day found all houses in Dili empty.
The governor's office, military and police stations, and the office of the local Chamber of Commerce and Industry were converted into temporary shelters for those remaining in Dili.
"No body sleeps in their homes anymore," said one resident.
All said they supported East Timor's integration with Indonesia, and were hoping to leave the territory.
"We're just waiting for the government to arrange our transportation," one Dili resident said.
Maj. Gen. Kiki said the military had also taken charge of the distribution of food relief.
The military has also had to escort workers in and out of PT Telkom, the state telecommunications company, to operate the facility. They only work for a few hours a day, or on request.
All foreign journalists were believed to have left East Timor.
Only reporters representing Antara news agency and Jakarta- based Terbit daily remained in Dili.
Journalists for Forum and Tempo magazines who arrived on Wiranto's plane planned to stay for three more days.
Virtually all buildings in Dili have been destroyed or damaged.
Mahkota Hotel was razed to the ground, while Turismo Hotel has been left relatively unscathed except for broken windows.
Gen. Wiranto earlier met with pro-Indonesia leaders at Komoro Airport.
He appealed to them to stop the violence, saying their actions were harming Indonesia's reputation abroad and was causing more hatred and casualties.
"I'm extending this appeal also to the proindependence people. I ask for restraint from all of you, and that you refrain from acts of violence which would only destroy the East Timorese people," he said.
Among those present at the meeting were Jakarta-appointed Governor Jose Abilio Soares and East Timor Council Speaker Armindo Mariano Soares. The pro-Indonesia militias were represented by their leaders Eurico Guteres, Cancio Carvalho and Juanico Cesario.