East Timor

Friday November 26, 1999
Mass Graves Found in East Timor
By HEATHER PATERSON Associated Press Writer

DILI, East Timor (AP) - The bodies of 25 people, including three Roman Catholic priests, have been
exhumed from graves in West Timor - evidence of what is believed to be the worst massacre of East
Timor's September upheaval, officials said today.

The victims allegedly were killed by anti-independence militias and Indonesian troops in
East Timor in the days after the territory's Aug. 30 vote to become independent from Indonesia.

A top U.N. investigator vowed to bring the killers to justice.

``We will follow up on all the evidence found in West Timor,'' said Sonia Pikado, a Costa Rican
lawmaker who heads the U.N. team investigating allegations of East Timor atrocities.

The decaying corpses were discovered at Oeuli Beach, two miles from the border with the eastern
half of the island, Indonesian investigators said.

The victims are believed to have been slaughtered in a Sept. 6 attack on two churches in Suai, a town
in East Timor close to the border, said Munir, a member of the commission investigating alleged
crimes by Indonesian troops and their militia proxies in East Timor. The panel was set up by the
government in Jakarta to act as an independent probe of human rights abuses.

According to witnesses, dozens of people who took refuge in the churches of Ave Maria and Nossa
Senhora de Fatima were shot or hacked to death by militiamen supported by Indonesian soldiers and
police. The Vatican has said more than 100 people died.

``We have found three bodies in the first grave, 11 in the second grave and 11 in the third grave,''
Munir was quoted as saying by The Jakarta Post.

Munir, who like many Indonesians uses only one name, said autopsies on the three priests determined
that one had been shot while the other two died of knife wounds.

In Dili, East Timor's capital, Father Filomino of the Jesuit Refugee Service said he was outraged by
the killing of the priests and ``hundreds'' of people who had sheltered in the two churches.

Dominique Liengme, deputy head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, said the
organization would transfer the priests' bodies to Dili today. The international peacekeeping force
would arrange for the transport of the other victims, she said.

The killings in Suai are generally considered to be the deadliest incident in the three-week militia
rampage that followed East Timor's overwhelming vote for independence in a U.N.-sponsored
referendum. The territory is now under U.N. administration and being primed for self-rule.

While no one disputes that pro-Indonesian forces destroyed many cities and towns in East Timor and
left hundreds of thousands of citizens homeless, the number of victims found so far is nowhere near
the thousands that international organization originally estimated had been killed.

October 19, 1999

Exhausted East Timor Refugees Stream Across Border
                      By Mark Chisholm

                      MEMO, East Timor (Reuters) - More than 1,000 exhausted refugees
                      walked back into East Timor at this border town Tuesday after trekking
                      for hours from Indonesian camps.

                      A constant stream of people, from toddlers to old folk, walked shakily across the
border from West Timor, the first wave of thousands expected to return on
foot to their homeland in coming days.

Some said pro-Jakarta militiamen still active in refugee
camps in West Timor had been furious at the returning
refugees, but on the instructions of the Indonesian military
did nothing to stop them going.

``All I want to do is go home, even if it means risking the anger
of the militias,'' said one young man.

Walking Under Baking Sun

Some refugees carried their paltry possessions on carts or
horses. Most simply balanced sacks of clothes and cooking
utensils on their heads as they walked in the baking heat for
hours to reach the dry river bed that forms the border.

Aid workers and troops from the U.N.-mandated foreign force
establishing security in East Timor were there to meet them.

``So far today, by lunchtime, we've had about 1,000...people
across,'' said Bob Churcher of Britain's Department for
International Development (DFID).

``They're not in particularly bad shape, but they're not
particularly good either.

``We have unfortunately, given the fact it's only 1,000 people
so far, had at least three deaths and maybe five.''

One emaciated old man was carried across the border on a
makeshift wooden stretcher by his two sons. Clearly very ill,
he was given medical help by Australian troops who fitted an
intravenous drip.

``We've noticed that women, especially lactating women, and
babies, don't seem to be in very good shape. We will provide
assistance to all returnees of course, but we'll work on
targeting especially these vulnerable groups,'' said World
Food Program official Jean-Pierre de Margerie.

``There seem to be some signs of malnutrition.''

Officials expect thousands more people in coming days in
Memo alone, near the town of Maliana. Tens of thousands are
expected elsewhere along the border.

``Little Idea Of What's Happening''

``Ultimately, I think we could expect up to 17,000 people
possibly across this (part of the) border in the next few days.
But we've really very little idea of what's happening on the
other side and how many will turn up,'' DFID's Churcher said.

De Margerie said the World Food Program had supplies in
place to feed the returning refugees.

``We've been hearing in the last few days of the possibility of a
massive influx of returnees from West Timor, so we rapidly
decided to pre-position some food,'' he said.

``Last night, we heard that this rumor of an influx was
becoming more of a reality.''

Around 250,000 East Timorese fled to neighboring West
Timor and other nearby parts of Indonesia during a campaign
of murder and arson waged by pro-Jakarta militias and the
Indonesian military after East Timor's overwhelming vote for
independence on August 30.

The United Nations estimates 150,000 want to return home.

Hundreds of refugees have been flown in to Dili and East
Timor's second city of Baucau, and thousands are expected to
begin arriving by boat later this week.

Mass grave in E.Timor found
Oct. 17, 1999

PEACEKEEPERS REPORT APPARENT DISCOVERY OF FIRST MASS GRAVE

In what would be the first discovery of a mass grave site since a multinational
force moved into East Timor a month ago, about 20 corpses have been found in
the town of Liquica, the peacekeepers said Tuesday. But a spokesman for the
Australian-led force said the peacekeepers did not yet know when or how the
victims had died.

Relief groups brace for refugee return
....
http://cnn.com/ASIANOW/southeast/9910/19/e.timor.01.ap/

Peacekeepers kill East Timorese militiaman in clash

October 11, 1999


                   DILI, East Timor (CNN) --
                   Peacekeepers in East Timor killed a member of a pro-Indonesian militia
                   in a confrontation near the border dividing the island, officers of the
                   multinational force there said Sunday.

                   The killing occurred when a group of more than a dozen militiamen
                   approached a group of five New Zealand troops at an observation
                   post, said Col. Mark Kelly, chief of staff for the Australian-led
                  peacekeeping mission. It marked the second clash in four days between the
                  peacekeepers and armed bands who oppose East Timor's move toward
                 independence from Indonesia.

                   In another incident along the border, an Australian patrol came under
                   fire from what Australian officers said were a combination of
                   Indonesian military forces and pro-Indonesian militias. The Australian
                   forces returned fire and injured two of the attackers, with no injuries to
                   the peacekeepers.

                   CNN's Matthew Chance, who was traveling with the Australian patrol,
                   said the convoy was passing through an area of dense underbrush
                   when automatic gunfire rang out and the attackers launched an attack.
                   Following the incident, the Australian convoy moved several kilometers
                   back from the border to the town of Atabae.

                   The militias have mostly withdrawn to West Timor, an Indonesian
                   province, and have been slipping back across the border into the
                   southwestern part of East Timor.

                   Kelly said the New Zealanders opened fire
                   after militiamen spread out and adopted "an
                   aggressive posture" on approaching the observation post, about two
                  kilometers (1.2 miles) inside East Timor.

                   "As part of its force protection and to facilitate its own extraction, the
                   INTERFET patrol returned fire, which resulted in one
                   militiaman being killed," Kelly said. No peacekeepers were injured, he said.

                   The clash occurred near Suai, where two militiamen were killed and two
                   Australians wounded in another firefight last week. It came as a Singapore
                   newspaper reported that Indonesian army deserters are training
                   thousands of East Timorese militiamen in camps in West Timor border.

                   About 6,000 troops were being drilled in combat techniques, with
                   special emphasis on identifying Australian troops by their uniforms and
                   methods of operation, Singapore's Sunday Times reported.

                   Domingos Pereira, a militia commander there, accused Australian
                   troops of siding with "our enemies," the pro- independence Falintil
                   guerrillas.

                   "We don't have a chance in a conventional war," Pereira told the
                   newspaper. "But we can make it very painful for them in a guerrilla war.
                   The Australians must die for what they have done to my men and their
                   families."

                    Correspondent Matthew Chance, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed
                    to this report.

Aussie Troops In Provocative Covert Moves
   Monday, 11 October 1999, 5:10 pm
   Article: John Howard

      Australian special forces and navy divers have been carrying out covert operations
      in East Timor since April in a provocative move that prompted warnings from
      Jakarta. John Howard reports.

      Senior defence sources in Sydney today revealed navy divers and members of
      Australia's Special Air Services (SAS) had been operating in the territory for months
      before the UN authorised the introduction of peacekeepers.

      The covert operations are said to have begun after the Prime Minister, John
      Howard, put Australian troops on a heightened state of alert in April and prompted a
      warning from the Indonesian military that it was aware of unauthorised intrusions in
      June.

      Australian divers scoured anchorages for anti-ship mines and scouted out potential
      sites for amphibious landing, while the SAS monitored the activities of the
      Indonesian military and pro-Jakarta militias.

      The troops were reportedly inserted by helicopters flying at a low altitude to avoid
      detection by radar. Indonesian officers suspected flights involved covert shipments
      of weapons to indepedence fighters.

      The scouting came ahead of an anticipated deployment by Australian troops.

      East Timorese independence leaders, including Nobel laureate, Jose Ramos Horta,
      have now asked Australia to forward its intellignece materials to the UN so they can
      be used by investigators looking into atrocities.

      However, Australia has been reluctant to let go of the information and reportedly
      angered US intelligence agencies earlier this year when it refused to share reports
      of the East Timor situation.

      US officials complained to the Australian ambassador to the US, Andrew Peacock,
      but Peacock had declined to forward the reports because the Australian
      government considered the information too sensitive.

      The revelations today, raises the possibility Australia has vital information on
      atrocities in East Timor carried out in both the lead-up and aftermath of the August
      30 vote for independence.

      The Indonesian public and politicians are said to be furious.

DILI, East Timor (AP) - International peacekeepers moved into rocky terrain along East Timor's border with West Timor on Thursday, a day after repelling a militia ambush, in an effort to keep pro-Indonesia militiamen from carrying out more attacks.

There have been reports of militiamen massing just over the border in West Timor, where they fled after rampaging through East Timor following the territory's Aug. 30 vote for independence from Indonesia.

Maj.-Gen. Peter Cosgrove, the Australian head of the multinational mission, said although the peacekeepers had set up bases near the border, they had not completely blocked access from Indonesian-controlled West Timor.

"I would say our forces are present in strength, but it's a long border and nobody is pretending that it is absolutely impermeable," he said. "Our peacekeepers are moving extremely quickly . . . in this harsh terrain to establish security for the people to come out of the hills."

Fears of further violence rose after suspected militiamen attacked a group of peacekeepers late Wednesday about 14 kilometers from the frontier. Two Australian soldiers were slightly injured and two militiamen were killed in the first clash since the international peacekeepers arrived Sept. 20. The two peacekeepers were flown to Darwin, Australia, for hospital treatment.

The international force took control of East Timor after the pro-Indonesian militias, backed by elements of the Indonesian military, carried out a wave of violence, looting and arson following the independence vote. That vote still needs to be endorsed by the Indonesian parliament.

In Kupang, West Timor, 94 people from 15 families boarded a cargo plane Friday to be flown back to East Timor, said Fernando del Mundo, spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Before boarding, the refugees, who had been living in overcrowded camps with no water or sanitation, filled out voluntary repatriation forms and then held a small prayer service in the waiting area.

Outside Dili on Thursday there was a fire at an asphalt plant near a site where several dead bodies had been found but not yet removed.

The international force's deputy commander, Maj.-Gen. Songkitti Chakkabatr of Thailand, also arrived Thursday with the vanguard of about 1,500 troops expected to arrive within a week. Those forces would bring the mission close to its authorized strength of 7,500 troops.

Many Indonesians fear East Timor's breakaway will encourage separatists in other parts of the nation. An Indonesian general said Thursday that the armed forces' top priority is keeping the country together.

The military is determined not to let Indonesia "follow the same pattern of reform as the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia," Indonesian Lt.-Gen. Agus Widjojo said at a seminar in Singapore.

Indonesia's official Antara news agency blamed the foreign peacekeepers for Wednesday's clash. It quoted one man as claiming they opened fired on a group of refugees returning to their homes to pick up goods and food.

The peacekeepers denied that, but Cosgrove has described some militiamen who were detained briefly and sent back to West Timor as "poor folk who actually are scrounging for food."

Wednesday's violence started after Australian troops shot out the tires of a truck full of militiamen that ran a roadblock in Suai, a militia stronghold about 112 kilometers southwest of Dili. Four passengers were injured.

Dozens of militia members were disarmed and taken to the West Timor border.

As the peacekeepers drove back to Suai, they were ambushed, Cosgrove said. They returned fire, killing two men and forcing the rest to retreat.

� The Canadian Press, 1999

Bodies discovered E. Timor
September 23 1999

     Times reveals evidence of massacres

               FROM JANINE DI GIOVANNI IN DILI THREE days after the
United Nations liberation of East Timor, the full horror of what happened in the
killing spree by pro-integration militias is beginning to emerge.

    A well near the Aitarak militia headquarters in the
    capital, Dili, was discovered yesterday to contain
    what may be up to 30 corpses. The well, with a
    bloated, discoloured corpse floating on top, is in the
    garden of the East Timorese pro-independence
    leader, Manuel Carrascal�o. He has fled Jakarta for
    Lisbon.

    In other parts of Dili and the surrounding villages I saw
    other mutilated corpses, found in a sewage tunnel, the
    river and an abandoned field. One was disembowelled,
    another decapitated. In the Aitarak headquarters The
    Times found a computerised list of more than 500
    militia members, listing their names, professions and
    showing the amount the militia paid them, usually less
    than �10 a month. It is a clear indication that the
    massacres were systematically planned.

    The evidence, just in a tiny corner of this ravaged
    island, suggests that as the Australian-led
    peacekeepers extend their area of control fresh
    horror stories and many more bodies will be
    uncovered.

    Australian troops have confiscated hundreds of
    weapons, including a cache of crude handmade arms
    in the Aitarak headquarters, as well as arresting 30
    militia members.

    However, the militia is far from beaten. It controls
    large areas of East Timor and even in Dili still spreads
    fear under the very noses of the peacekeepers.
    Australian troops complained that some militiamen,
    who had been arrested and handed over to the
    Indonesian Army, were later seen on the streets of
    Dili, gloating over their release.

    The suburbs of Dili were still burning yesterday
    morning with fresh fires that villagers say were
    started by retreating Indonesian Army troops.
    Indonesian soldiers blamed the fires on the
militias.

    There is a strong feeling here that, despite the UN
    presence, the militias refuse to die. That message was
    delivered in a blunt and brutal way at the suburb of
    Becora with the discovery of the mutilated body of
    Sander Thoenes, a Financial Times correspondent.
    The Dutch-born Jakarta correspondent, a young but
    experienced reporter, was killed and his body
    mutilated by six assailants in Indonesian Army
    uniforms armed with automatic weapons. His body
    was flown to Darwin yesterday in a coffin draped with
    a Dutch flag, as Australia announced it would not fly
    any more journalists into Timor and many of those
    already here made plans to pull out.

    Robin Cook, the Foreign Secretary, speaking at the
    United Nations in New York, said that he was "shocked
    and saddened by the sudden death" and would
    demand Indonesia's co-operation in the murder
    investigation when he met Ali Alatas, his Indonesian
    counterpart. Mr Alatas expressed deep regret at the
    killing of the journalist.

    The death of Thoenes, and similar attacks against two
    other journalists, including Jon Swain of The Sunday
    Times, who was rescued unhurt by Australian special
    forces, suggested that the militias and their
    Indonesian military allies were attempting to blunt the
    UN military operation.

    "It has been a dangerous 24 hours," said Major-General Peter
    Cosgrove, the Australian force commander. "It would appear
    that the militia has attempted to step up some activity as a show that
    all is not yet secure." That was certainly the feeling for
    many civilians in Dili. They may have come out of their
    hiding places to cheer the peacekeepers and search
    for food, but as night fell they retreated to their
    mountain hiding places.

Date: Friday, 24 September 1999

Scoop Today - East Timor And Other News

See further below for the latest Scoops on issues other than
East Timor....all the news you need and much more....

EAST TIMOR/JAKARTA LATEST REPORTS

INDONESIA PASSES RANGING 'SECURITY' LEGISLATION - CONCERN AT
PROSPECT OF MILITARY RULE - PROTESTS FLARE IN JAKARTA

All Eyes On Jakarta

    - As Kiwi and Aussie diggers hunker down in Dili tonight their
future is being decided not at home - where loved ones wait and
elected leaders worry - but in Jakarta where the worries of East
Timor are increasingly playing second fiddle to a domestic political
crisis. Scoop's Alastair Thompson discusses the latest developments
in the fast unfolding crisis. See...Scoop Opinion:
Fire In The Sky [1] .
[1] -
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00195.htm

NEWSFLASH 5pm, September 23rd: Indonesia Passes
'Security' Legislation In Very Quick Time

    - The Indonesian parliament, sitting in its final days, just passed controversial security
legislation - mentioned in the next two stories which people say threatens the
democratic reforms and paves the way for military rule. The decision
was made around 4.30pm NZT. See two stories below for background.

    Situation Tense In Jakarta As Protest Expected

    - 10am Jakarta Time - 3pm NZT: "We're expecting 10,000 students in the street, and I'd give
you better than even money one of them get's shot," a Jakarta journalist tells Scoop
down the phone line. See... The Mood In Jakarta Is Tense... [1] in the Headlines wire.
[1] -
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00194.htm

   Jakarta Students Protest Threatened Democracy

    - John Howard reports that in the latest Jakarta developments, hundreds of Indonesian
student demonstrators last night staged a last-ditch attempt to prevent the adoption of a
new security law that threatens much of the democratic reform of the past year and
opens the door to military rule. See... Students Protest Over Threatened Democratic
Reform [1] in the Headlines wire.
[1] -
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00193.htm

Images: Shooting - WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT
Thursday, 16 September 1999, 3:50 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

The following images were received by Scoop today on a email discussion group. (Follow Links to View)

They show what appear to be Indonesian troops gunning down a youth in the street's of East Timor as he runs away.

At this stage they have not been authenticated and they are undated. Scoop has requested authentication information from the source.

Scoop seriously considered whether they should be published or not, but the consensus among the team was that they should. And in any event they are already in the public domain.

This afternoon Scoop provided a copy of the photographs to the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington prior to publication.

When viewing these photos bear in mind that someone wants you to see them....note also that one of them - killing3.jpeg - is missing.

****************************
15/09/99 - Protest disrupts state dinner
By Tony Wall
The Government buckled to the will of China last night and got the police to forcibly remove a group of Free Tibet protesters from outside a hotel hosting a state banquet for President Jiang Zemin.

In a major diplomatic incident, Mr Jiang kept hundreds of guests at a Christchurch hotel waiting 90 minutes because he refused to drive past the protesters. The Government - anxious not to offend the leader of the world's most populous nation - arranged for a squad of ready-response police to move the 80 or so colourful and noisy demonstrators out of sight. Minutes later Mr Jiang arrived at the Hotel Grand Chancellor - where assembled guests were left to drink wine while they waited to be fed - and apologised for the delay.
"It's not my fault," he said in broken English.

Journalists earlier watched as about 30 police jumped over plastic barricades, behind which the protesters had stood in orderly fashion for more than an hour. The political editor of the New Zealand Herald, John Armstrong, said: "They started removing banners and then linked arms and forcibly pushed the protesters back down the street."

Two large buses were parked across the street to block the protesters' view of the presidential motorcade, and three police cars kept their sirens wailing, apparently to block out the noise of the demonstration.

It is understood senior Chinese security officials had earlier raised concern at the noise and closeness of the protesters, prompting negotiations with Foreign Affairs officials over the terms under which Mr Jiang would agree to turn up. Prime Minister Jenny Shipley - apparently not wanting to
offend the President or damage NZ-China relations - came down to the hotel lobby to talk with a senior Chinese official, understood to be a general.
It is understood an option Mrs Shipley considered was having a smaller, private dinner with the President at his hotel, but she did not wish to ruin the banquet as months
of planning had gone into it.
The head of the Prime Minister's office, Dr Mark Prebble, came outside at one point and began earnest discussions with senior police, gesturing at the demonstrators.
The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Neil Walter, also entered into discussions.
Protesters - waving Tibetan flags, beating drums, blowing whistles and chanting "free Tibet" - had stood vigil about 50m from the entrance to the Hotel Grand Chancellor, in Cashel St.
Mr Jiang was supposed to arrive at 7.30 pm but did not show until almost 9 pm.
The compere for the night asked guests to stay silent for 30 seconds, apparently to determine whether any noise could be heard.

A guest told the Herald the protesters could not be heard. After Mrs S attempt to shut out noise.
The incident follows a similar one in Auckland before the summit between Mr Jiang and President Bill Clinton at Government House on Saturday. On that occasion, a group of ready-response police formed a "skirmish line" and moved the protesters out of sight just minutes before Mr Jiang's motorcade arrived.

Free Tibet protesters accused the police of following the orders of China and said the same thing had happened wherever Mr Jiang had gone around the world. A member of the Christchurch branch of Students for a Free Tibet, Gaye Dyson, said: "There was some pretty full-on
police violence against peaceful protesters."

NEWS
15/09/99 - Legal anger at use of `PM's private army'
By Staff Reporters
Legal experts and civil libertarians are aghast at the
apparent political influence wielded over police to force
them to act last night against lawful protest.
Dr Bill Hodge, associate professor of law at Auckland
University, said the police were "not the Prime Minister's
private army." Their allegiance was solely to the law.
"The police cannot be told to arrest someone or not to
arrest someone because a member of Parliament, be it the
Prime Minister or Minister of Police, tells them to act,"
he said. "They're controlled by their oath to uphold the
law and keep the peace.
"They are the judges of when the peace is threatened.
"Just because someone didn't like what protesters were
saying was not sufficient reason for the police to move
them on."
Barry Wilson, president of the Auckland Council for Civil
Liberties, said it seemed that saving a head of state from
embarrassment had been placed above the rights of New
Zealanders to freedom of speech. "Everybody has the right
of peaceful protest provided it is not violent," he said.
"It is included in the Bill of Rights under freedom of
expression.
"If people can't express their opinions on Tibet in a
peaceful way and if the state steps in to limit their
expression, then we are on very dangerous ground indeed."
Gary Gotlieb, of the Auckland District Law Society, said he
was not surprised that police might overreact "with such a
hugely powerful person" as Jiang Zemin involved. There was
little people could do but make complaints to the police
and Government, which would ultimately get them nowhere.
"That's the power of the police to flex themselves more
with powerful people and override civil liberties, because
that is what they were probably instructed to do. "It's the
rights of the individual, which are very important,
contrasted with the desire not to cause any political
upheaval."

Aust Broadcasting.
Wednesday 15 September, 1999

UN security council considers strong mandate for peacekeepers

The United Nations Security Council in New York is
considering a resolution to send multinational peacekeeping
troops into East Timor with a strong mandate to use force
if it is required.

The peacekeeping force is expected to be deployed for four
months.

The draft resolution on a peacekeeping force for East Timor
does not specify Australia is to lead the effort.

The major debate within the security council centres on the
recommendation that the peacekeepers be allowed to use
force if necessary.

The resolution drafted by the British, calls on Indonesia
to cooperate with the multinational force.

British ambassador to the UN Sir Jeremy Greenstock wants it
passed within 24 hours.

"Why not? Because their lives are leaking away," he said.

The security council is prepared to sit late into the night
to approve the peacekeeping force.

Food drop

The United Nations says it could be the weekend before the
first food aid is airdropped in East Timor.

Aid organisations are continuing to send food rations and
emergency supplies to Darwin where they are piling up in
warehouses.

The UN has called on Australia and all countries with the
air capacity to speed up plans to drop parcels to the
thousands of East Timorese hiding in the mountains around
Dili.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has attacked
Indonesian authorities in Jakarta for reneging on
commitments to secure safe passage for food aid overland.

Hunger strike

Supporters of an independent East Timor say they will be
setting up an embassy in Darwin today.

They say the embassy will be a focus for people supporting
the immediate deployment of peacekeepers and the withdrawal
of the Indonesian military.

Speakers will include representatives of the East Timorese
community, the group Australians for a Free East Timor,
trade unions and the Catholic Church.

Two members of Australians for a Free East Timor say they
will start a hunger strike at noon and continue until
emergency airdrops of food, water and medicines reach East
Timor.

(6:33am AEST)

Security Council considers East Timor force

The United Nations Security Council is discussing a
resolution to send a multinational force for four months to
East Timor, with the power to use military force to carry
out its tasks.

While the draft resolution does not specify how the large
the force will be, a spokesman for the British delegation
says it is likely to be made up of 5,000-7,000 personnel.

The resolution has been drafted by the British ambassador
to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, one of five ambassadors
who visited Indonesia and Dili on behalf of the council
last week.

The resolution explicitly authorises military force when
necessary.

It also calls on the Indonesian Government to cooperate
with the multinational force, in all aspects of the
implementation of its mandate.

Earlier, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan denied the UN had
failed to move quickly enough on the issue of East Timor.

"I wouldn't use the word failure," Mr Annan said. "I would
say that we are moving ahead as quickly as we can to get in
the force.

"I think the council will begin action on the resolution
soon.

"My discussions will continue with the Foreign Minister of
Australia and Foreign Ministers of Portugal and I'll be
seeing [Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali] Alatas again - I
think we made good progress yesterday and we're going to
move ahead."

Wednesday 15 September, 1999
More food arrives for Timorese

More food aid has arrived in Darwin for desperate East
Timorese who face starvation in the mountains near Dili.

But it may be the weekend before it is sent.

Another planeload of emergency rations touched down
yesterday to add to the growing pile of food aid in local
warehouses.

The United Nations has expressed frustration at how slowly
Australia and other countries are implementing plans to
drop food parcels to the thousands of East Timorese living
in the jungle.

But unless or until Indonesia guarantees air clearance,
there is a sizeable risk some of the food will fall into
enemy hands or that planes will be within firing range from
militia gangs below.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has condemned
authorities in Jakarta for breaking their promise to allow
food to be trucked in.

The UN says it is likely to be several days before the
first air drops can be made.

Links

UNAMET

Home page for the United Nations Mission in East Timor. The
site includes the latest information on UN activity in East
Timor, maps and daily press briefings.
http://www.un.org/peace/etimor/etimor.htm

Indonesian Department of Foreign Affairs.

This page includes official government papers on East Timor
and some interesting articles on the situation.

http://www.deplu.go.id/policy/view/timor/timor.htm

East Timor Relief Association Home Page

ETRA is an Australian based organisation wrorking for
"peace and self-determination" for East Timor. Their
website contains comprehensive information on East Timor
including homepages for Xanana Gusmao, Bishop Belo and Jose
Ramos Horta.
http://www.pactok.net.au/docs/et/

TNI (ABRI)

Presented in Bahasa Indonesia "TNI-Net" includes general
information about the Indonesian political system. There's
also recent material outlining the role the military sees
itself playing within Indonesia's new political system.
http://www.mil.id/

Media

CNN

CNN's Asia Now service is providing comprehensive coverage
of the East Timor crisis.
http://www.cnn.com/ASIANOW/

Antara

Indonesia's Official newsagency. Includes latest news in
both English and Bahasa Indonesia.
http://www.antara.co.id/
There is also quite a range of pages for online editions of
various Indonesian magazines and newspapers. These include
Jawa Pos, Republika, Tempo, Detik, Tiras, Gatra, Kompas
(East Timor special), The Surabaya Post.

Inside Indonesia

The online edition of this authorative journal on
Indonesian affairs. Includes selected articles by
international Indonesia scholars.
http://www.insideindonesia.org/

Other

ANU Virtual Library

Probably the definitive collection of links to Online
resources for countries in the Asia Pacific. The Australian
National University's Indonesia page is at:
http://coombs.anu.edu.au
/WWWVLPages/IndonPages/
WWWVLIndonesia.html

Indonesia-L

Web page for the highly successful Indonesian discussion
forum. Mainly in bahasa Indonesia with some contributions
in English.
http://www.indopubs.com/

PACAF aids Southwest Asia airborne warning and control mission

Released: 14 Sep 1999

by Staff Sgt. Mark Diamond
363rd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- In what Air Force airborne warning and control officials are calling a historically significant move, the secretary of defense authorized the use of Pacific Air Forces aircrews to help relieve Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., operations in Southwest Asia.

For more than 10 years, aircraft and aircrew members assigned to the 552nd Air Control Wing, at Tinker, have shouldered the responsibility of airborne warning and control in support of coalition forces operating in Southwest Asia.

Within seven days of Secretary William S. Cohen's authorization, a PACAF aircrew from the 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, was in place in Southwest Asia supporting Operation Southern Watch.

Years of coordination and discussion were accomplished to allow a PACAF AWACS crew to support the OSW mission here, according to Lt. Col. Norm Potter, PACAF AWACS mission commander.

He said the 552nd ACW commander at Tinker pushed the coordination up to PACAF, Air Combat Command, and Pacific Command; all the way up to the secretary of defense.

"It was a big deal to get one crew out here to support OSW," said Potter.

Although a PACAF AWACS unit has never been deployed to Southwest Asia, Potter said about 80 percent of the Kadena aircrew members have previously deployed to "the desert" as members of the 552nd ACW. He said another 75 to 80 percent of his crew are AWACS instructors, giving him what he calls a "very experienced" and "very competent" crew.

"Originally, they wanted to pull together our best (aircrew members) because we wanted to make a good showing over here. I said I'd rather ask for volunteers. In my opinion, I got the best after all," said Potter.

Although all Air Force AWACS crews are doing more with less, the Tinker crews are spread very thin, supporting the OSW mission and just coming off Operation Allied Force, the lieutenant colonel said.

"They (Tinker aircrews) have to be tired," he added.

Although the coordination to bring the PACAF aircrew to Southwest Asia has been ongoing for nearly three years, according to Potter, he and his crew did not know they would be supporting OSW until one week prior to their deployment.

The Kadena AWACS crew was forward staged at MacDill AFB, Fla., supporting counter-drug operations in preparation for the OSW mission. If the approval did not come down by a certain date, he said he and his crew would have continued counter-drug ops out of MacDill, and the Kadena squadron would begin spinning up another aircrew for possible OSW support at a later date.

Although having a PACAF AWACS crew supporting Operation Southern Watch is unique in itself, Potter said what the PACAF crew accomplished while gearing up for their mission in Southwest Asia is equally remarkable.

"What I think is really unique about this whole deal -- besides the fact that we have an all-volunteer crew -- is that within a two-week period, (the Kadena AWACS crew) supported five commanders in chief in three areas of responsibility," explained Potter.

He said the crew flew missions along the demilitarization zone in South Korea, flew counter-drug operations in support of Southern Command, and arrived in Southwest Asia shortly after.

Getting the Kadena crews prepared to deploy involved simulator training, mission planning, and academics such as rules of engagement and lessons learned; all of which were accomplished at Tinker.

"I've been in the Air Force for 24 years, and being with this crew and doing what we've done the past three weeks has been a highlight of my career," said the lieutenant colonel. "It was pretty impressive. Anyone can come over here and fly, but I think it takes a special crew to do what we've done. I'm extremely proud of our crew."

Although Potter said he feels their mission in Southwest Asia is important and necessary, he stressed that the crew's normal operations within PACAF are equally important.

"Korea is probably one of the biggest hot spots in the world right now," explained Potter. "Our crew members are already operating in a contingency-like environment."

Their operations in the Pacific have more than prepared his crew for Operation Southern Watch, Potter said.

"We've all been there, we've paid the price, and we have a lot of desert time," he explained. "Now we're back. When the call goes out, we're there; the first ones to show the American flag. I think that says something about the character of these AWACS crews."

"We're forging new ground on an extraordinary scale," added Lt. Col. David Greer, commander of the 363rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron here. "With PACOM and PACAF being focused on the Far East in particular, they have not been able to support the contingency operations in this area. Now they're here, and we're happy to see them."

Having a PACAF AWACS crew support the OSW mission is a huge morale boost for Tinker, the 363rd EAACS commander said

"They're helping us reduce our Optempo, which is one of the highest in the Air Force right now," explained Greer. "Anytime the national command authorities want to project U.S. interests on short notice, the first call goes to the 552nd ACW, because we can project U.S. air power and U.S. interests without being threatening."

Greer said AWACS crews go to Tinker knowing they're going to be "on the road" a lot.

"Kansas and Texas won't be invading Oklahoma any time soon," he said. "The mission of the AWACS at Tinker is on the road; we accept that; a lot of folks like it. Nobody else in the world can do what this airframe can do. AWACS is the projection of U.S. interests and airpower at its finest."

Although the Kadena AWACS crew knows its presence in Southwest Asia is doing a lot for the Tinker aircrews, Potter said that's just a fringe benefit of sorts.

"The bottom line is we're here and we're going to complete our mission with outstanding results and return to Kadena safe and sound," said Potter. (PACAF News Service)

U.S. plans to support U.N. force in East Timor

Released: 14 Sep 1999

by Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The U.S. military will provide logistical and other support to an Australian-led international peacekeeping force in East Timor, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said Sept. 12. A U.S. military team is in Australia helping with the planning process, Cohen said while en route to Russia. The peacekeepers will be mainly Australian troops and forces from other nations in the region.

"We are not planning at this point on putting combat troops on the ground in terms of a peacekeeping force," the secretary said. "At this point, our planning is for support activities. U.S. ships and planes will be involved in the mission, as they transport other national forces and supplies." He said planning to date has included intelligence, communications, logistics and general support activities.

Indonesian President B.J. Habibie over the weekend endorsed and invited an international peacekeeping force to help bring order and stability to the island of East Timor. Cohen said Indonesian leaders have harshly criticized the actions of military elements alleged to be involved in the violence sweeping the island. He said Habibie and other Indonesian leaders understand their country's economic future and position in the world community are at stake.

"I think they will do everything in their power to make sure that those (military) elements that would be part of any peacekeeping mission would be those committed to working properly and constructively with a peacekeeping force," Cohen said.

The current trouble in East Timor started after a large majority of East Timorese voted for independence Aug. 30. Local anti-independence militia, trained and armed by garrisoned Indonesian occupation forces, went on a rampage against their political opponents. By this weekend, the death toll was over 8,000, and more than 200,000 residents had fled their homes.

NEWS
14/09/99 - UN terms worry aid agency workers
By Simon Hendery and Nick Perry
New Zealand aid agencies are ready to help clean up the
human carnage in East Timor but are worried their arrival
may be delayed by arguments over the terms of the United
Nations peacekeeping mission.
And independence leader Jose Ramos-Horta said last night
that thousands of East Timorese faced starvation if they
did not get food in a few days.
"The situation is extremely precarious. People are living
off leaves, wild fruit and roots, and they can't get out to
search for wild animals to eat [because of surrounding
militias]."
Caritas Aotearoa spokesman Peter Zwart said: "It's a huge
relief to know that [the UN] has been allowed in, but on
the ground we are very uncertain about what that means.
"They have said that the peacekeeping force has to work
alongside the Indonesian Army. How does it work alongside
an Army that has been implicated in everything that has
gone on? There are big uncertainties."
Mr Ramos-Horta, who is in Auckland to lobby world leaders
to end the bloodshed in East Timor, said Red Cross planes
needed to take off within 24 hours.
About 3000 troops from Australia, New Zealand and the
United States were needed immediately to settle the
situation before peacekeepers from other countries were
sent in, he said.
Mr Ramos-Horta did not expect any confrontation between the
militias and a multinational force.
"The militias will wet their pants when the troops arrive.
They only know how to kill women and children, and how to
attack churches."
New Zealand Red Cross spokesman Tony Blackett said the
agency always sought security guarantees before going into
trouble spots.
If the UN mission foundered because of unacceptable
conditions, the Red Cross might still be able to negotiate
safe entry into East Timor directly with Indonesian rulers.
However, that could delay the relief effort.
Three International Red Cross delegates planned to go to
Dili today to assess the situation.
"Right throughout Timor there is an urgent and compelling
need to provide food, shelter, clean water, sleeping mats,
cooking equipment and medical support to tens and possibly
hundreds of thousands of people," said Mr Blackett.
Jeff Brown, of Unicef, said the agency's staff of about 10
were in West Timor "waiting to go back in."
World Vision is setting up a supply base in Darwin, and has
specialist aid workers on 24 hours' notice to return to
East Timor.
Several agencies are running appeals for relief operations.
Caritas said it had raised $41,000 and the Red Cross said
it had raised $6000.
Appeal fund details:
* Caritas, PO Box 123-193, Wellington, or 0900 411-11
(automatic $20 donation).
* Red Cross, Freepost Red Cross, PO Box 12-140, Wellington;
or 0900 33-100 (automatic $20 donation)
* Tear Fund, 0800 800-777.
* Unicef, 0900 435-754 (automatic $25 donation).

� Copyright 1999, NZ Herald

Paul Pureau
Asian Desk

Tuesday 14 September, 1999
Annan says UN will decide on make-up of E Timor force

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan has laid down
the law on the make-up of the East Timor peacekeeping
force, as Indonesian leaders attempted to sideline
Australian and US involvement and insisted the troops could
not arrive for at least a week.

Mr Annan says "the UN and the Council will decide" which
nations will participate in the force.

"We are determined to move in a force as quickly as we
can," he said.

The chairman of Indonesia's ruling Golkar party earlier
called for the exclusion of five countries from the
multinational contingent.

"The involvement of non-neutral troops will only further
provoke people's emotion [in East Timor]," Golkar chairman
Akbar Tanjung said. "It will be in vain."

The five were Australia, the United States, Canada, New
Zealand and Portugal - East Timor's former colonial power.

Sent: Monday, September 13, 1999 1:15 PM
Subject:Tuesday News/ Aus. News

Australian Broadcasting Corp.

East Timorese being forcibly deported
Red Cross officials say some 60,000 East Timorese have been
herded into police headquarters in Dili to be forcibly
deported to West Timor.

The development comes as Australia continues to push for an
international peacekeeping force to be deployed to East
Timor.

The head of the Red Cross delegation to East Timor,
Jean-Luc Metzker, said the people were all taken to police
headquarters by militia, the police or the army.

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Annan cautious about martial law declaration

Mr Metzker and 10 other foreign Red Cross workers were
flown to Darwin by the Australian Defence Force last night.

Mr Metzker says it is likely the 60,000 East Timorese in
Dili's police headquarters will be put on a convoy moving
towards Atanbura in West Timor.

"At least 50,000 or 60,000 people who will be forced to
leave East Timor towards West Timor are now gathered," he
said.

"They were all brought to that place by militia, by the
police or by the army. That place is the poldat, which
means the regional police headquarters. They will be put on
a convoy moving to Atanbura."

Attacks

Armed militiamen have attacked the United Nations offices
in the eastern East Timorese town of Baucau and Australia
has diverted two Hercules aircraft to pick up United
Nations and other staff.

No-one was injured in the 15-minute attack, in which the
compound was sprayed with automatic gunfire.

Refugees fear the UN will pull out of East Timor
completely. Tim Lester reports from Dili.

Sarah Clarke reports the Australian Government has upgraded
Defence Force readiness.

Red Cross staff evacuated to Darwin are trying to discover
the fate of refugees. Catherine McGrath reports.

The attack has forced the Royal Australian Air Force to
step up its efforts to evacuate people from Baucau, where
138 international UN staff members and aid personnel are
holed up in the compound.

Unconfirmed reports say East Timor's spiritual leader,
Bishop Carlos Belo, is among them.

Meanwhile, the ABC's last two reporters in East Timor, Tim
Lester and Di Martin, are preparing to leave Dili on a
flight to Darwin.

Tim Lester filed a report from the back of an Indonesian
military vehicle as he was being driven to the airport.

He had been told to keep his head down but was able to make
a few observations on the way.

"The streets of Dili appear to be utterly deserted," he
said.

"Much of the city is covered in smoke today from fresh
fires.

"There's been an awful lot of activity near the compound
where we've just come from with semi and fully automatic
weapon fire today.

"It's been close to the compound today as it has been in
the three days that I've been here, certainly adding to the
sense of danger there."

Peacekeepers

The United Nations is reported to be planning for a
5,000-7,000 strong international force to quell the
violence in East Timor.

The Washington Post newspaper, quoting UN and US officials,
says planning is well advanced but such a decision would
need the approval of the Indonesian Government and the UN
Security Council.

The Washington Post says diplomats now expect the United
Nations to give Indonesian President BJ Habibie three or
four days to demonstrate whether he can restore order
before making any decision on a peacekeeping force.

The pressure for a peacekeeping force has been increasing
today, despite the announcement by Jakarta that martial law
was to be imposed in East Timor.

But Australia is struggling to convince the United States
to commit to a peacekeeping force.

Australia is offering to send 2,000 military personnel to
East Timor as part of a multi-national force.

Australia says it is ready to take a leading role in a
peacekeeping force.

Australian troops are on 24-hour alert in case they are
needed in East Timor. Tim Lester reports from Dili.

John Howard has discussed a possible peacekeeping force
with US President Bill Clinton. Matt Peacock spoke to Mr
Howard.

Local East Timorese believe the burning of Dili is an
attempt to destroy historical records. Lyn Gallacher
reports.

Evidence is mounting that the Indonesian military is acting
hand-in-hand with militia in East Timor. Bronwyn Adcock
reports.

The UN and Red Cross have moved much of their East Timor
operations to Darwin. Rafael Epstein interviews the UN's
David Wimhurst.

Unions have begun protesting against the violence in East
Timor. Peter Jeppesen reports.

It would operate with Indonesian approval, perhaps even in
partnership with the Indonesian military.

Prime Minister John Howard has spoken to the United Nations
about a force involving New Zealand, Canada, Britain,
Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

But the United States is less willing, pointing to its
existing role in the Balkans and opposition to any Timor
commitment in the Pentagon and Congress.

Australia is pressing, saying it would look strange if the
US were not involved.

Martial law

The push for a peacekeeping force has continued even after
the Indonesian Government announced it was invoking martial
law in East Timor.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the
declaration of martial law is Indonesia's last roll of the
dice.

Prime Minister John Howard says his patience is also being
tested.

"I will only be reassured when I see an improvement on the
streets of Dili," Mr Howard said.

Slaughter

Mr Downer says there is a slaughter taking place in East
Timor.

But he says there is a lot of resistance in the United
States Congress to committing American troops to a
peacekeeping force.

"We really would want the support of the United States," he
said.

"I don't think countries like Australia, the US, other
liberal democracies around the world can just turn a blind
eye to the slaughter that is going on in East Timor."

Mr Downer said the US was reluctant to commit troops
because of other military deployments such as the Balkans.

"There is quite a lot of resistance in the Congress to US
involvement, that's certainly been the feedback I myself
have had from Congressmen I've spoken to in recent times,"
he said.

"But there again I don't think a country with the depth of
moral commitment and strength of liberal democratic
traditions like the US would want to turn its back on a
people who are being slaughtered."

He says Indonesia must do more to stop the militia rampage
in East Timor.

"They have to get the militias off the streets," Mr Downer
said.

"They have to get the militias disarmed and apparently the
militias are well armed. They have no shortage of supplies
of ammunition and they have no shortage of fuel for their
vehicles.

"The Indonesian military have to bring those militias under
control and they have to bring them under control within a
matter of hours, not in a matter of days," he said.

The Federal Opposition says Australia must use every fibre
of its relationship with Indonesia to force action in East
Timor.

The Shadow Foreign Minister, Laurie Brereton, says the
Government should be prepared to put its defence and aid
relationships on the line.

"Why have we not used our defence relationship and put it
on the line?" he asked.

"Why have we not put the question of international monetary
support on the line? Why have we not I repeat tested every
fibre of the bilateral relationship?"

Monday 13 September, 1999
AFP officers return home

A contingent of Australian Federal Police officers who have
been working as peacekeepers in East Timor for three months
has arrived home in Canberra.

The 11-member team was greeted at Canberra airport by an
offical police guard of honour, including AFP Commissioner
Mick Palmer and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.

Mr Anderson has praised the courage of the team.

Monday 13 September, 1999
Indonesia objects to Australian involvement in peacekeeping

A peacekeeping mission to East Timor may be delayed because
the Indonesian military has announced it will not accept
the involvement of Australian forces.

The military's opposition comes even before negotiations
with the United Nations begin in New York.

Indonesian President BJ Habibie has told UN secretary
general Kofi Annan the composition of the East Timor
peacekeeping force is a matter for the UN.

This commitment was muddied by senior officials refusing to
say whether Indonesia welcomed Australia's involvement in a
peacekeeping force.

Earlier today, Indonesia's Home Affairs Minister, Syarwan
Hamid, told reporters in Jakarta his Government would
welcome Australian peacekeepers.

But it now appears the Indonesian military does not agree.

Brigadier-General Sudrajat has gone on television to say
"the armed forces will simply not accept the involvement of
Australian forces".

The rift between Indonesia's Government and military
threatens to delay the deployment of a peacekeeping force
to East Timor.
(10:29pm AEST)

Monday 13 September, 1999
Indonesia backs human rights investigation

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary
Robinson, says Indonesian President BJ Habibie has voiced
support for a process to investigate human rights abuses in
East Timor.

In a statement issued after a meeting with the President,
Ms Robinson said that according to reports, "there was
collusion between the military and the militias".

"I took my concerns directly to Indonesian President BJ
Habibie," she said.

"I was encouraged by the President's stated commitment to
support such a process for addressing the massive abuse of
power committed in East Timor."

Ms Robinson, who has said she has already gathered
eyewitness acccounts and names of people in the Indonesian
military who collaborated in a militia reign of terror in
East Timor, did not elaborate on what form President
Habibie's support took.

"My worry is that it appears to be systemic," she said.

"All the interlocuters I spoke to ... all of them said TNI
[the Indonesian military] was fully involved, were
orchestrating it."

Ms Robinson said she had received many harrowing reports,
including of rape and systematic evictions, when she talked
to local and international United Nations staff who had
been evacuated to Darwin.

She has recommended that a panel of experts set up an
inquiry as to whether there should be some sort of
international tribunal.

"There must be no impunity from that scale of violation,"
she said. "I don't rule out the question of a possible
tribunal but it is too soon to know what the committee of
experts will recommend."
(10:08pm AEST)

Monday 13 September, 1999
Howard promises quick action in East Timor

Prime Minister John Howard has returned from the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit promising
Australia will move quickly to bring peace to East Timor.

Mr Howard will discuss the peacekeeping force Australia
plans to lead in East Timor at a Cabinet meeting in
Canberra tomorrow.

The Prime Minister says he will have talks on East Timor
with the Defence Minister, the chief of the Defence Force
and with the Cabinet.

Mr Howard says he wants operational advice on how long it
will take to stabilise East Timor after its devastation.

"There's been a lot of buildings destroyed," Mr Howard
said. "There has been significant loss of life.

"There's been a significant movement of populations.

"It's very difficult for me to, without a more detailed
assessment and I don't think you really get that till you
have the additional personnel in there."

Mr Howard says Australia will be compassionate in taking
Timorese refugees and will take the lead in giving
long-term help to the independent East Timor.

Days

The United States' national security adviser says he hopes
a multinational force can be in East Timor within days.

Sandy Berger told reporters at the APEC summit in Auckland
there are about 200,000 refugees in the province, many
without food.

He says the US has agreed to help a peacekeeping force in
an effort to avert a political crisis in Indonesia.

"Indonesia is the fourth-largest country in the world, the
largest Muslim country in the world, and I believe that
Indonesia was heading for the brink," he said.

"If Indonesia collapsed, the consequences on the Asian
economy and ultimately on our economy would be severe."

Monday 13 September, 1999
Protesters demand end to Aust's 'interference' in E Timor

Angry protesters have burned an effigy of Prime Minister
John Howard during one of several demonstrations against
Australia in Indonesia.

Students picketting the Australian embassy in Jakarta
demanded an end to what they called Australian interference
in East Timor.

The backlash continued in Indonesia's second largest city,
Surabaya, with an attack on the office of the Western
Australian Government.

About 1,000 protesters had been close to the United States
consulate in Surabaya.

They went past the World Trade Centre, where the Western
Australian offices are on the ground floor.

Some of the protesters barged into the office, broke
computers and smashed windows, causing the staff inside to
flee.

Monday 13 September, 1999
Bob Hawke welcomes peacekeepers announcement

The former Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke has welcomed
the announcement that an international peacekeeping force
has been invited into East Timor.

He says the sooner the peacekeeping force is in place the
better.

"I'm pleased to see now that at last there's going to be an
international peacekeeping force under the United Nations
auspices in which Australia will play a leading part," Mr
Hawke said.

"And my feeling is I just hope that it'll be expedited
because there are too many being slaughtered and
intimdated. The sooner the force is in there the better,"
he said.

Monday 13 September, 1999
Downer bound for New York over peacekeepers

The Foreign Affairs Minister, Alexander Downer, is on his
way to New York to work out the details of the peacekeeping
force for East Timor.

Deployment of the force has to wait for a United Nations
Security Council resolution

The Security Council resolution is likely on Wednesday and
Mr Downer believes some troops from Australia and other
participating countries can move quickly after that.

"We could start to get people in within a period of 24
hours," he said.

He wants the force given strong powers because of the
risks.

"We obviously want a fairly robust Security Council
resolution, I'll tell you that."

The Opposition leader, Kim Beazley, wants quick action on
humanitarian help, including food drops.

"So what if the odd packet falls in the hands of the
militia, so what. I mean the important thing is that at
least some of it gets into the hands of the people that
need it," he said.

A Government spokesman says the UN is talking to Indonesia
about food drops and it is possible that could go ahead
before peacekeepers are deployed.

Monday 13 September, 1999
WA Govt office in Indonesia attacked

In Indonesia, the backlash against Australia continues with
an attack on the office of the West Australian Government
in the country's second largest city, Surabaya.

Indonesian politicians have also expressed their anger at
what they say is Australian hostility over East Timor.

About 1,000 students and young people were amongst a crowd
protesting what they described as foreign interference in
East Timor.

As the crowd moved past the city's world trade centre some
protestors attacked the premises of the West Australian
Government, smashing windows and computers, causing staff
to flee.

There is also an office of Austrade some floors higher in
the same building but it was not attacked.

There has been a chorus of criticism from Indonesian
politicians and Islamic leaders for Australia being at the
forefront of a push for peacekeepers to be sent into East
Timor.

The executive of the National Awakening Party, Nuer Ahmad
Affandi, says what Australia has done is far from
favourable for a healthy and beneficial relationship. He
has recommended breaking relations with Australia.

Monday 13 September, 1999

Aust troops to wait for overseas colleagues

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says Australian troops
will not go in to East Timor alone but will wait for those
from other nations.

Speaking at Sydney airport before flying to New York for UN
peacekeeping negotiations Mr Downer said while they are
aiming for rapid deployment our troops will not go it
alone.

"This is a multinational force and this multinational force
must be that," he said.

"It's not an Australian force, it's a multinational force
led by Australia and so its multinational character is an
important component of the diplomacy."

Monday 13 September, 1999

Doctors without borders seek East Timor return

International medical agency 'Doctors Without Borders' has
appealed for public donations to help it return to East
Timor.

The last surgical team was thrown out of the province last
week.

Communications director Erwin Vant Land says 27 tonnes of
medical supplies have been sent to Darwin and are on
standby until the situation improves.

He says doctors are also waiting to return to East Timor.

"Our surgical team that was kicked out of East Timor last
Tuesday [and were] the last surgical team to leave, they
actually had to leave patients on the operating table," he
said.

"Our people are on standby in Darwin. We've brought in
extra aid workers as well and they are ready to go back
into East Timor as soon as the situation allows it."

To help 'Doctors without Borders' people can call toll-free
on 1800 063 496.

Monday 13 September, 1999
Aust Jakarta embassy targeted by protesters

There has been another protest outside the Australian
embassy in Jakarta today.

Since President Habibie's announcement last night that
Indonesia would accept an international peacekeeping force
in East Timor there has been some confusion about the role
Indonesia wants Australia to play.

But in Jakarta today Indonesia's Home Minister Syarwan
Hamid told journalists that his Government would welcome
Australian involvement in a peacekeeping mission.

Adviser to BJ Habibie, Ginandjar, has warned that this is a
delicate time in Indonesia and said that a nationalist
backlash against international pressure was possible.

Protests and flag burnings outside the Australian embassy
in Jakarta over the last week have provided the only
visible suggestion of anti-Australian feeling.

Monday 13 September, 1999

Aust determined to lead E Timor peacekeepers

Prime Minister John Howard says Australia is determined to
lead the East Timor peacekeeping force despite Indonesian
sensitivities.

At the APEC summit in Auckland, Mr Howard said Australia
will carry the bulk of the burden in building an
independent East Timor.

Mr Howard says Australia will lead the peacekeepers and
lead in helping create an independent East Timor.

He says he has told the United Nations Australia will be
compassionate in taking Timorese refugees.

He says Australia will contribute about 2,000 people to the
initial 7,000 peacekeepers.

While acknowledging Indonesian sensitivities about having
Asian involvement in the force, Mr Howard says Australia
will stick with the agreement to lead the coalition reached
with the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

"He asked me a week ago whether we would accept leadership
and we said 'yes'. And we don't have a different view a
week later and it is also the view of the President of the
United States," Mr Howard said.

Paul Pureau
Asian Desk

Row erupts over peace force

By Andrew Stone and Greg Ansley
New Zealand and Australia were last night warned to keep
out of East Timor as deep divisions emerged over the shape
and leadership of an international peacekeeping force.
The head of Indonesia's parliamentary defence commission,
Aisyah Amini, said: "Those without neutrality on the East
Timor problem, such as Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and
the United States ... do not deserve to be involved. We
have to reject them."
The call will further bolster a besieged Indonesian
Government already receiving support from members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations for its bid to shape
the peacekeeping force, despite American warnings that
Jakarta will not be allowed to dictate terms to the United
Nations.
The row, which could delay the arrival of up to 8000
peacekeepers, erupted as Prime Minister Jenny Shipley
prepared to recall Parliament to ratify New Zealand's
largest expeditionary force since Vietnam.
East Timor has been in turmoil since a vote for
independence from Indonesia sparked a backlash by
Army-backed pro-Jakarta militias.
Six senior officers flew to Australia on Sunday night to
plan an Anzac contingent that will include as many as 500
New Zealand troops, supported by an armoured unit, C-130
Hercules aircraft, the frigate Te Kaha and the tanker
Endeavour.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked Australia, which
will supply most of the troops for Timor, to coordinate and
lead the operation. Britain, Canada, France, Japan and the
United States have also pledged varying degrees of support.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has made it clear
that he expects Canberra to be in charge, although
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas is expected to argue
strongly against this in New York.
Anti-Australian sentiment has grown in Indonesia, with
reports yesterday of up to 1000 people attacking a Western
Australia Government office in Surabaya.
Philippines President Joseph Estrada said a meeting of
Asean leaders in Auckland on Sunday had agreed with the
Indonesian view that Asean soldiers must dominate the
force.
"It is not really for the West [to dictate terms], and the
Indonesian Government has the right to request Asean [to
provide most troops]."
China indicated last night that it might send troops.
Foreign Minister Tan Jiaxuan said Beijing was studying the
proposal, which would be a major departure from its firm
policy of non-interference in other nations' affairs.
The Asean chairman, Thai Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan,
flew from Auckland yesterday for talks with Indonesian
President Jusuf Habibie carrying a conciliatory message for
Jakarta.
"Everyone in the Asean family would like to be supportive
and helpful to our friends in Indonesia," he said.
But US President Bill Clinton declared: "They [Indonesia]
should not be able to say who is in, or not in, the force,
and what the structure of the force would be, otherwise it
will raise all kinds of questions about whether there will
be integrity in the force and will also delay the
implementation."
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, before
leaving Sydney for the UN Security Council, declared that
Australia should lead the operation.
"For the force to be effective and for it to be on the move
quickly, it has to have Australian leadership and a major
Australian role."
Mr Downer insisted on tough rules of engagement to allow
the peacekeepers to deal effectively with violent militias.

The row over the makeup of the force broke after the
Indonesian Peoples Assembly yesterday ratified President
Habibie's decision to accept peacekeepers, although Economy
and Finance Minister Ginandjar Kartasamita said in Auckland
last night that Jakarta would abide by a UN ruling.

NEWS: SUNDAY: Indonesian Cabinet In Emergency Session As Attacks On Timor Safehaven Reported

- Attacks on a city 6 miles south of Dili have been reported by the UN spokesman David Wimhurst (in Darwin) as the Indonesian Cabinet prepares for an emergency session on the East Timor Crisis in Jakarta. The Indonesian's have denied the latest attack reports. The Cabinet including General Wiranto and President Habibe will discuss the crisis, and, most probably, Gen. Wiranto's comments yesterday while in Dili that he was in favour of an "accelerated deployment" of foreign peace keepers. A force of 600 Australians are apparently ready to go in Darwin with the US now offering logistics support. 350 NZ soldiers are currently tied up in APEC security detail will be on 14 days notice from the end of APEC on Monday. Meanwhile in Auckland Japan is now taking a lead role in the crisis. Scoop’s APEC correspondent Selwyn Manning reports it is now…Decision Time For International Community On Timor [1] .
[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00110.htm

- Commander of the Indonesian military and Defence Minister General Wiranto indicated Indonesia may be willing to allow an international peace-keeping force into East Timor. Till now the Indonesian leadership has strongly rejected offers from the international community of a peace-keeping troops. Meanwhile reports suggest calm may be returning to Dili and that the violence in East Timor is passing. A UN team is currently in Dili - see... Reports Suggest Calm May Be Returning To Dili [1] . Earlier yesterday New Zealand Foreign Minister Don McKinnon said there was a growing belief that there will be a peacekeeping force in East Timor within days as pressure mounts on Indonesia - see... Peacekeepers In East Timor Within Days? [2]
[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00100.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00095.htm

Sent: Sunday, September 12, 1999 2:25 AM
Subject: Scoop Habibe okays peace keepers

Noam Chomsky Comments On APEC Summit And Timor
Sunday, 12 September 1999, 6:23 pm
Opinion: Noam Chomsky

Comments On the Occasion of the Forthcoming APEC Summit

There are many topics of major long-term significance that
should be addressed at the APEC conference, but one is of
consuming importance and overwhelming urgency. We all know
exactly what it is, and why it must be placed at the
forefront of concern -- and more important, instant action.
This conference provides an opportunity -- there may not be
many more -- to terminate the tragedy that is once again
reaching shocking proportions in East Timor. The Indonesian
military forces who invaded East Timor 24 years ago, and
have been slaughtering and terrorizing its inhabitants ever
since, are right now, as I write, in the process of
sadistically destroying what remains: the population, the
cities and villages. What they are planning, we cannot be
sure: a Carthaginian solution is not out of the question.
The tragedy of East Timor has been one of the most awesome
of this terrible century. It is also of particular moral
significance for us, for the simplest and most obvious of
reasons. Western complicity has been direct and decisive.
The expected corollary also holds: unlike the crimes of
official enemies, these can be ended by means that have
always been readily available, and still are.
The current wave of terror and destruction began early this
year, under the pretense that the atrocities were the work
of "uncontrolled militias." It was quickly revealed that
these were paramilitary forces armed, organized, and
directed by the Indonesian army, who also participated
directly in their "criminal activities," as these have just
been described by Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas,
still maintaining the shameful pretense that the "military
institution" that is directing the crimes is seeking to
stop them.
The Indonesian military forces are commonly described as
"rogue elements." That is hardly accurate. Most prominent
among them are Kopassus units sent to East Timor to carry
out the actions for which they are famed, and dreaded. They
have "the job of managing the militias, many observers
believe," veteran Asia correspondent David Jenkins reported
as the terror was mounting. Kopassus is the "crack special
forces unit" modeled on the U.S. Green Berets that had
"been training regularly with US and Australian forces
until their behaviour became too much of an embarrassment
for their foreign friends." These forces are "legendary for
their cruelty," observes Benedict Anderson, one of the
leading Indonesia scholars. In East Timor, Anderson
continues, "Kopassus became the pioneer and exemplar for
every kind of atrocity," including systematic rapes,
tortures and executions, and organization of hooded
gangsters.
Jenkins wrote that Kopassus officers, trained in the United
States, adopted the tactics of the US Phoenix program in
South Vietnam, which killed tens of thousands of peasants
and much of the indigenous South Vietnamese leadership, as
well as "the tactics employed by the Contras" in Nicaragua,
following lessons taught by their CIA mentors that it
should be unnecessary to review. The state terrorists were
"not simply going after the most radical pro-independence
people but going after the moderates, the people who have
influence in their community." "It's Phoenix," a
well-placed source in Jakarta reported: the aim is "to
terrorise everyone" -- the NGOs, the Red Cross, the UN, the
journalists.
All of this was well before the referendum and the
atrocities conducted in its immediate aftermath. As to
these, there is good reason to heed the judgment of a
high-ranking Western official in Dili. "Make no mistake,"
he reported: "this is being directed from Jakarta. This is
not a situation where a few gangs of rag-tag militia are
out of control. As everybody here knows, it has been a
military operation from start to finish."
The official was speaking from the UN compound in which the
UN observers, the last few reporters, and thousands of
terrified Timorese finally took refuge, besieged by
Indonesia's paramilitary agents. At that time, a few days
ago, the UN estimated that violent expulsions had perhaps
reached 200,000 people, about a quarter of the population,
with unknown numbers killed and physical destruction
running to billions of dollars. At best, it would take
decades to rebuild the territory's basic infrastructure,
they concluded. And the army may well have still more
far-reaching goals.
In the months before the August 30 referendum, the horror
story continued. Citing diplomatic, church, and militia
sources, Australian journalists reported in July "that
hundreds of modern assault rifles, grenades and mortars are
being stockpiled, ready for use if the autonomy [within
Indonesia] option is rejected at the ballot box." They
warned that the army-run militias might be planning a
violent takeover of much of the territory if, despite the
terror, the popular will would be expressed. All of this
was well understood by the "foreign friends," who also knew
how to bring the terror to an end, but preferred to delay,
hesitate, and keep to evasive and ambiguous reactions that
the Indonesian Generals could easily interpret as a "green
light" to carry out their grim work.
In a display of extraordinary courage and heroism,
virtually the entire population made their way to the
ballot-boxes, many emerging from hiding to do so. Braving
brutal intimidation and terror, they voted overwhelming in
favor of the right of self-determination that had long ago
been endorsed by the United Nations Security Council and
the World Court.
Immediately, the Indonesian occupying forces reacted as had
been predicted by observers on the scene. The weapons that
had been stockpiled, and the forces that had been
mobilized, conducted a well-planned operation. They
proceeded to drive out anyone who might bring the terrible
story to the outside world and cut off communications,
while massacring, expelling tens of thousands of people to
an unknown fate, burning and destroying, murdering priests
and nuns, and no one knows how many other hapless victims.
The capital city of Dili has been virtually destroyed. In
the countryside, where the army can rampage undetected, one
can only guess what has taken place.
Even before the latest outrages, highly credible Church
sources had reported 3-5000 killed in 1999, well beyond the
scale of atrocities in Kosovo prior to the NATO bombings.
The scale might even reach the level of Rwanda if the
"foreign friends" keep to timid expressions of disapproval
while insisting that internal security in East Timor "is
the responsibility of the Government of Indonesia, and we
don't want to take that responsibility away from them" --
the official position of the State Department a few days
before the August 30 referendum.
It would have been far less hypocritical to have said,
early this year, that internal security in Kosovo "is the
responsibility of the Government of Yugoslavia, and we
don't want to take that responsibility away from them."
Indonesia's crimes in East Timor have been vastly greater,
even just this year, not to speak of their actions during
the years of aggression and terror; Western-backed, we
should never allow ourselves to forget. That aside,
Indonesia has no claim whatsoever to the territory it
invaded and occupied, apart from the claim based on support
by the Great Powers.
The "foreign friends" also understand that direct
intervention in the occupied territory, however justified,
might not even be necessary. If the United States were to
take a clear, unambiguous, and public stand, informing the
Indonesian Generals that this game is over, that might very
well suffice. The same has been true for the past
quarter-century, as the US provided critical military and
diplomatic support for the invasion and atrocities. These
were directed by General Suharto, compiling yet another
chapter in his gruesome record, always with Western
support, and often acclaim. He was once again praised by
the Clinton Administration. He is "our kind of guy," the
Administration declared as he visited Washington shortly
before he fell from grace by losing control and dragging
his feet on IMF orders.
If changing the former green light to a new red light does
not suffice, Washington and its allies have ample means at
their disposal: termination of arms sales to the killers;
initiation of war crimes trials against the army leadership
-- not an insignificant threat; cutting the economic
support funds that are, incidentally, not without their
ambiguities; putting a hold on Western energy corporations
and multinationals, along with other investment and
commercial activities. There is also no reason to shy away
from peacekeeping forces to replace the occupying terrorist
army, if that proves necessary. Indonesia has no authority
to "invite" foreign intervention, as President Clinton
urged, any more than Saddam Hussein had authority to invite
foreign intervention in Kuwait, or Nazi Germany in France
in 1944 for that matter. If dispatch of peacekeeping forces
is disguised by such prettified terminology, it is of no
great importance, as long as we do not succumb to illusions
that prevent us from understanding what has happened, and
what it portends.
What the U.S. and its allies are doing, we scarcely know.
The New York Times reports that the Defense Department is
"taking the lead in dealing with the crisis,...hoping to
make use of longstanding ties between the Pentagon and the
Indonesian military." The nature of these ties over many
decades is no secret. Important light on the current stage
is provided by Alan Nairn, who survived the Dili massacre
in 1991 and barely escaped with his life in Dili again a
few days ago. In another stunning investigative
achievement, Nairn has just revealed that immediately after
the vicious massacre of dozens of refugees seeking shelter
in a church in Liquica, U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral
Dennis Blair assured Indonesian Army chief General Wiranto
of US support and assistance, proposing a new U.S. training
mission.
On September 8, the Pacific Command announced that Admiral
Blair is once again being sent to Indonesia to convey U.S.
concerns. On the same day, Secretary of Defense William
Cohen reported that a week before the referendum in August,
the US was carrying out joint operations with the
Indonesian army -- "a U.S.-Indonesian training exercise
focused on humanitarian and disaster relief activities,"
the wire services reported. The fact that Cohen could say
this without shame leaves one numb with amazement. The
training exercise was put to use within days -- in the
standard way, as all but the voluntarily blind must surely
understand after many years of the same tales, the same
outcomes.
Every slight move comes with an implicit retraction. On the
eve of the APEC meeting, on September 9, Clinton announced
the termination of military ties; but without cutting off
arms sales, and while declaring East Timor to be "still a
part of Indonesia," which it is not and has never been. The
decision was delivered to General Wiranto by Admiral Blair.
It takes no unusual cynicism to watch the current secret
interactions with a skeptical eye.
Skepticism is only heightened by the historical record: to
mention one recent case, Clinton's evasion of congressional
restrictions barring U.S. training of Indonesian military
officers after the Dili massacre. The earlier record is far
worse from the first days of the U.S.-authorized invasion.
While the U.S. publicly condemned the aggression,
Washington secretly supported it with a new flow of arms,
which was increased by the Carter Administration as the
slaughter reached near-genocidal levels in 1978. It was
then that highly credible Church and other sources in East
Timor attempted to make public the estimates of 200,000
deaths that came to be accepted years later, after
constantly denial.
Every student in the West, every citizen with even a
minimal concern for international affairs, should know by
heart the frank and honest description of the opening days
of the invasion by Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then
America's U.N. Ambassador. The Security Council ordered the
invaders to withdraw at once, but without effect. In his
memoirs, published as the terror peaked 20 years ago,
Moynihan explained the reasons: "The United States wished
things to turn out as they did," and he dutifully "worked
to bring this about," rendering the UN "utterly ineffective
in whatever measures it undertook." As for how "things
turned out," Moynihan comments that within a few months
60,000 Timorese had been killed, "almost the proportion of
casualties experienced by the Soviet Union during the
Second World War." End of story, though not in the real
world.
So matters have continued since, not just in the United
States. England has a particularly ugly record, as do
Australia, France, and all too many others. That fact alone
confers on them enormous responsibility to act, not only to
end the atrocities, but to provide reparations as at least
some miserable gesture of compensation for their crimes.
The reasons for the Western stance are very clear. They are
currently stated with brutal frankness. "The dilemma is
that Indonesia matters and East Timor doesn't," a Western
diplomat in Jakarta bluntly observed a few days ago. It is
no "dilemma," he might have added, but rather standard
operating procedure. Explaining why the U.S. refuses to
take a stand, New York Times Asia specialists Elizabeth
Becker and Philip Shenon report that the Clinton
Administration "has made the calculation that the United
States must put its relationship with Indonesia, a
mineral-rich nation of more than 200 million people, ahead
of its concern over the political fate of East Timor, a
tiny impoverished territory of 800,000 people that is
seeking independence." Their fate as human beings
apparently does not even reach the radar screen, for these
calculations. The Washington Post quotes Douglas Paal,
president of the Asia Pacific Policy Center, reporting the
facts of life: "Timor is a speed bump on the road to
dealing with Jakarta, and we've got to get over it safely.
Indonesia is such a big place and so central to the
stability of the region."
Even without secret Pentagon assurances, Indonesian
Generals can surely read these statements and draw the
conclusion that they will be granted leeway to work their
will.
The analogy to Kosovo has repeatedly been drawn in the past
days. It is singularly inappropriate, in many crucial
respects. A closer analogy would be to Iraq-Kuwait, though
this radically understates the scale of the atrocities and
the culpability of the United States and its allies. There
is still time, though very little time, to prevent a
hideous consummation of one of the most appalling tragedies
of the terrible century that is winding to a horrifying,
wrenching close. _

Saturday, 11 September 1999, 6:19 pm
Article: Selwyn Manning - Scoop Auckland

By Selwyn Manning
Reports today suggest calm may be returning to Dili and
that the violence in East Timor is passing.
International agency reports confirm Scoop's exclusive
interviews with the Indonesian Government last night.
Senior Indonesian officials insisted that martial law was
bringing about calm, and the curfew had been effectively
instituted in Dili.
Last night a spokesperson for the Indonesian Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Ali Abdullah Alatas, told Scoop Media:
There has been an improvement in East Timor.
"I can confirm that we [the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in
Jakarta] are receiving reports from Dili and the
surrounding area, and the situation has improved.
"Since the Indonesian Army on the instructions of the
Indonesian Government instituted marshal law things have
improved and there has been a marked reduction in
violence."
Jakarta is now saying pro-Indonesian militia are agreeing
to a "laying down of arms".
"I would not say it is back to normal in East Timor, but
the worst expressions of violence have been quelled. Much
of the world's view of East Timor comes from the United
Nations compound in Dili". Mr Alatas' spokesperson said
Jakarta has no knowledge, reports or developments on the
situation surrounding the UN compound.
"But I can say, we have instructed our army that the safety
of the UN compound and its personnel is of the utmost
importance," Mr Alatas' spokesman said. "We are taking the
necessary steps by imposing marshal law in East Timor and
we have done this in consultation with United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan."
He said the Indonesian Government will inform the United
States President and the international community gathered
in Auckland for the APEC leader's summit meetings, that the
international community must give Indonesia a chance for
its moves to peace to work. Any reports that the split
between the Indonesian Government and the Military were
false: "It is that type of speculation which is not helpful
to the situation in Indonesia or East Timor."
A five-member delegation from the UN Security Council flew
from Jakarta to the East Timorese capital of Dili today to
assess the future of the independence vote in the
violence-wracked Indonesian province.
The compound in Dili is the headquarters for the UN
elections team in East Timor, which has been engulfed by a
wave of murders and deportations.
UN spokesman David Wimhurst said today from Darwin:
"There's absolutely no decision yet to pull out."
The latest reports suggest calm is being restored.
Associated Press report Dili was calm this morning and that
the UN compound is secure. About 1,000 refugees remain
inside.
An Indonesian air force Fokker 28 flew the UN delegation
from a Jakarta military airport to Dili early this morning.
It arrived at about 6am NZ time.
Delegation leader, Martin Andjaba, the Namibian's UN
ambassador, and five other UN ambassadors are to report
back to UN chief Annan shortly.
Annan will then decide whether to keep the UN compound in
Dili open.
The UN delegation will also meet with Indonesian President
B.J. Habibie tomorrow.
Australian news agencies are reporting of atrocities.
Australian Isa Bradridge said today that his wife saw
"thousands of bodies" piled in a large cell in Dili's
police station.
"My wife told me she saw bodies. Thousands of them,"
Bradridge said to today's Sydney Morning Herald.
"Stacks of bodies went up to the roof. I know it is hard to
believe but it is absolutely true. My wife saw arms and
legs and dripping blood."
Last month, 78.5 per cent of East Timor's registered voters
approved independence for the region in a UN-backed
referendum. However, the announcement of the results a week
ago triggered a wave of violence, and has pushed Indonesia
to the brink of becoming a pariah nation.

Peacekeepers In East Timor Within Days?
Saturday, 11 September 1999, 3:02 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

Foreign Minister Don McKinnon says there is a growing
belief that there will be a peacekeeping force within days
as pressure mounts on Indonesia.
The Indonesian's have found themselves trapped in a
diplomatic vice that has been tightened in the last 24
hours by Bill Clinton and the IMF. Their declaration that
they now have largely regained control in East Timor has
yet to be supported by any third party and will do little
to relieve international pressure.
Before he left for the APEC meeting in New Zealand, the US
President suspended military ties with Indonesia and warned
of "dire" economic consequences if Jakarta failed to end
the violence. NZ and others quickly followed the lead.
Yesterday in an unusual move the International Monetary
Fund suspended discussions with Indonesia on its economic
programme. It has so far lent Indonesia US$12 billion as
the country struggles to come out of economic ruin and
chaos.
"IMF management continues to keep under close review
ongoing developments in Indonesia and discussions for the
next programme review are on hold," said the IMF after
earlier warnings from the IMF that Indonesia faces a loss
of financial aid if it is unable to solve the East Timor
crisis.
No international correspondents spoken to by Scoop can
recall the IMF taking such immediate action over a
political matter. The IMF say they cannot be indifferent to
Indonesia's political problems as "An IMF programme can
only be successful if there is the necessary internal as
well as external support to the efforts."
The more cynical have commented that the IMF's continuing
problems with the corrupt and mainly bankrupt banking
sector in Indonesia may have been as much of a concern for
the IMF as the humanitarian concerns
The IMF mission to Jakarta, scheduled for later in the
month to discuss the next round of lending is now on hold.
$US$47 billion has been pledged by the West, $25 billion
from the World Bank, the IMF's sister institution.
As international pressure lays the way for a peace keeping
for force, Australia said it was ready and able to send
troops to East Timor even without support from the United
States.
Australian Defence Minister John Moore says they have a
reasonable coalition together right now with 2,000 troops
on alert in Darwin, 690 km from East Timor. It is believed
that Indonesia has around 30,000 troops in East Timor.
The RNZAF has contributed one Hercules, the frigate Te Kaha
and the navy tanker Endeavour. Troops are also on stand-by.

Scoop Takes You To East Timor And Inside APEC
Thursday, 9 September 1999, 7:15 pm
Press Release: Alastair Thompson

WWW.SCOOP.CO.NZ
For Immediate Release - 9/9/99
Scoop Takes You To East Timor And Inside APEC
Wellington internet based news agency Scoop -
http://www.scoop.co.nz/ - today proudly launched an
internet based special focussing on the rapidly unfolding
events in East Timor and in Auckland at the APEC summit.
The new web based information resource, which went
operational this afternoon, is presented with the
assistance of nzedge.com
In addition to comprehensive coverage of the APEC summit
itself - with the full text of statements and releases from
world leaders, interest groups, protesters and - the web
page provides context through real-time updates on events
in East Timor.
The site features coverage from the summit itself where
Scoop's Auckland reporter Selwyn Manning is handily
positioned to cover the summit in an apartment on K-Road.
Photographs are being supplied by Jason Dorday.
Events in East Timor over the past fortnight were the
inspiration for putting the site together.
Scoop's Alastair Thompson says the intention is to create
an environment where a dialogue can take place on the
merits of trade liberalisation and the relationship between
trade, politics and human rights.
"In addition to providing the public with an interior view
of events at the APEC summit in real-time, we want to
encourage a constructive debate on the globally important
issues raised by the crisis in East Timor," Thompson says.
Over the three-week period the Scoop East Timor/APEC
Special is in operation Scoop will be inviting expert
commentators, columnists and journalists to add their views
to the dialogue.
The web-special is accessible through Scoop at
http://www.scoop.co.nz/
For further information please contact: Alastair Thompson -
04 934 2132 or 021 70 70 44

Australian Broadcasting Corp.

East Timorese being forcibly deported
Red Cross officials say some 60,000 East Timorese have been
herded into police headquarters in Dili to be forcibly
deported to West Timor.

The development comes as Australia continues to push for an
international peacekeeping force to be deployed to East
Timor.

The head of the Red Cross delegation to East Timor,
Jean-Luc Metzker, said the people were all taken to police
headquarters by militia, the police or the army.

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Mr Metzker and 10 other foreign Red Cross workers were
flown to Darwin by the Australian Defence Force last night.

Mr Metzker says it is likely the 60,000 East Timorese in
Dili's police headquarters will be put on a convoy moving
towards Atanbura in West Timor.

"At least 50,000 or 60,000 people who will be forced to
leave East Timor towards West Timor are now gathered," he
said.

"They were all brought to that place by militia, by the
police or by the army. That place is the poldat, which
means the regional police headquarters. They will be put on
a convoy moving to Atanbura."

Attacks

Armed militiamen have attacked the United Nations offices
in the eastern East Timorese town of Baucau and Australia
has diverted two Hercules aircraft to pick up United
Nations and other staff.

No-one was injured in the 15-minute attack, in which the
compound was sprayed with automatic gunfire.

Refugees fear the UN will pull out of East Timor
completely. Tim Lester reports from Dili.

Sarah Clarke reports the Australian Government has upgraded
Defence Force readiness.

Red Cross staff evacuated to Darwin are trying to discover
the fate of refugees. Catherine McGrath reports.

The attack has forced the Royal Australian Air Force to
step up its efforts to evacuate people from Baucau, where
138 international UN staff members and aid personnel are
holed up in the compound.

Unconfirmed reports say East Timor's spiritual leader,
Bishop Carlos Belo, is among them.

Meanwhile, the ABC's last two reporters in East Timor, Tim
Lester and Di Martin, are preparing to leave Dili on a
flight to Darwin.

Tim Lester filed a report from the back of an Indonesian
military vehicle as he was being driven to the airport.

He had been told to keep his head down but was able to make
a few observations on the way.

"The streets of Dili appear to be utterly deserted," he
said.

"Much of the city is covered in smoke today from fresh
fires.

"There's been an awful lot of activity near the compound
where we've just come from with semi and fully automatic
weapon fire today.

"It's been close to the compound today as it has been in
the three days that I've been here, certainly adding to the
sense of danger there."

Peacekeepers

The United Nations is reported to be planning for a
5,000-7,000 strong international force to quell the
violence in East Timor.

The Washington Post newspaper, quoting UN and US officials,
says planning is well advanced but such a decision would
need the approval of the Indonesian Government and the UN
Security Council.

The Washington Post says diplomats now expect the United
Nations to give Indonesian President BJ Habibie three or
four days to demonstrate whether he can restore order
before making any decision on a peacekeeping force.

The pressure for a peacekeeping force has been increasing
today, despite the announcement by Jakarta that martial law
was to be imposed in East Timor.

But Australia is struggling to convince the United States
to commit to a peacekeeping force.

Australia is offering to send 2,000 military personnel to
East Timor as part of a multi-national force.

Australia says it is ready to take a leading role in a
peacekeeping force.

Australian troops are on 24-hour alert in case they are
needed in East Timor. Tim Lester reports from Dili.

John Howard has discussed a possible peacekeeping force
with US President Bill Clinton. Matt Peacock spoke to Mr
Howard.

Local East Timorese believe the burning of Dili is an
attempt to destroy historical records. Lyn Gallacher
reports.

Evidence is mounting that the Indonesian military is acting
hand-in-hand with militia in East Timor. Bronwyn Adcock
reports.

The UN and Red Cross have moved much of their East Timor
operations to Darwin. Rafael Epstein interviews the UN's
David Wimhurst.

Unions have begun protesting against the violence in East
Timor. Peter Jeppesen reports.

It would operate with Indonesian approval, perhaps even in
partnership with the Indonesian military.

Prime Minister John Howard has spoken to the United Nations
about a force involving New Zealand, Canada, Britain,
Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.

But the United States is less willing, pointing to its
existing role in the Balkans and opposition to any Timor
commitment in the Pentagon and Congress.

Australia is pressing, saying it would look strange if the
US were not involved.

Martial law

The push for a peacekeeping force has continued even after
the Indonesian Government announced it was invoking martial
law in East Timor.

Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer says the
declaration of martial law is Indonesia's last roll of the
dice.

Prime Minister John Howard says his patience is also being
tested.

"I will only be reassured when I see an improvement on the
streets of Dili," Mr Howard said.

Slaughter

Mr Downer says there is a slaughter taking place in East
Timor.

But he says there is a lot of resistance in the United
States Congress to committing American troops to a
peacekeeping force.

"We really would want the support of the United States," he
said.

"I don't think countries like Australia, the US, other
liberal democracies around the world can just turn a blind
eye to the slaughter that is going on in East Timor."

Mr Downer said the US was reluctant to commit troops
because of other military deployments such as the Balkans.

"There is quite a lot of resistance in the Congress to US
involvement, that's certainly been the feedback I myself
have had from Congressmen I've spoken to in recent times,"
he said.

"But there again I don't think a country with the depth of
moral commitment and strength of liberal democratic
traditions like the US would want to turn its back on a
people who are being slaughtered."

He says Indonesia must do more to stop the militia rampage
in East Timor.

"They have to get the militias off the streets," Mr Downer
said.

"They have to get the militias disarmed and apparently the
militias are well armed. They have no shortage of supplies
of ammunition and they have no shortage of fuel for their
vehicles.

"The Indonesian military have to bring those militias under
control and they have to bring them under control within a
matter of hours, not in a matter of days," he said.

The Federal Opposition says Australia must use every fibre
of its relationship with Indonesia to force action in East
Timor.

The Shadow Foreign Minister, Laurie Brereton, says the
Government should be prepared to put its defence and aid
relationships on the line.

"Why have we not used our defence relationship and put it
on the line?" he asked.

"Why have we not put the question of international monetary
support on the line? Why have we not I repeat tested every
fibre of the bilateral relationship?"

5/09/99 - Indonesia will be asked to pull back its pro-militia battalions
By Vernon Small
deputy political editor

The United Nations hopes to reduce the risk of hostile fire on its peacekeeping forces in East Timor by asking Indonesia to withdraw its Army units sympathetic to local militia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Don McKinnon, said yesterday that one of the UN's first tasks would be an analysis of which Indonesian battalions would back the planned peacekeeping force - and which had actively supported the militia.
"One of the early stages of the UN deployment will be to recommend to the Indonesian Government which of those battalions does leave East Timor and which could stay under a ... UN command," he said.
Pro-Indonesian militias, with the backing of the Indonesian military, may have killed thousands of East Timorese. They have terrorised the population of the province since the overwhelming vote for independence on August 30. UN officials said an advance contingent of an estimated
6000 troops from Australia and other countries could be on the ground within 72 hours to stem the violence. But their precise role was in doubt last night after Russia warned it might oppose wide-ranging powers that would allow them to fight the militias.

Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Sergei Lavrov, said he would approve the full powers of engagement being suggested by Australia and others only if the Indonesians agreed they
were necessary. As one of the five permanent members of the UN Security
Council, Russia has the power to veto any resolution. Eyewitness reports yesterday said Dili was quiet after the UN closed its besieged compound in the capital and began evacuating about 1300 refugees. Mr McKinnon said troops, including a New Zealand contingent, could move in once the UN Security Council confirmed the structure of the force. New Zealand has ordered the frigate Te Kaha and the supply ship Endeavour to the region and has deployed a C130 Hercules, guarded by an SAS unit, which was yesterday flying missions evacuating refugees.
A six-person team has gone to Brisbane to work with Australian Defence Force planners.
Chief of Defence Air Marshal Carey Adamson said forces being readied for possible deployment included an Army company, with M113 armoured personnel carriers, engineers
and other support staff, helicopters and another Hercules. Thirty Holden Rodeo four-wheel-drive vehicles have been bought for possible deployment as part of the Army's $500 million re-equipment programme.
In all, 15 countries are expected to contribute to the force, which will number about 6000.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas has said his country would not put conditions on the shape of a UN force or dictate which countries would be involved.
His comments contradicted earlier statements by a top Indonesian defence commission that Australia, New Zealand, the US and Portugal should not take part. But Mr Alatas reportedly hesitated when asked if Australia should lead the multinational force. He said Indonesia wanted to see a UN force in place in East Timor as soon as possible.

PACAF aids Southwest Asia airborne warning and control mission

U.S. plans to support U.N. force in East Timor

INDONESIA FLEXIBLE ON PEACEKEEPING FORCE AS MILITARY FORCES BUILD

APEC/EAST TIMOR SPECIAL