Australians plus Gurkhas in today

By Warren Gamble

New Zealand's main East Timor fighting force leaves for the Australian command base in Darwin from today, but the troops face a three-week wait for equipment before they can head to the front.

A large Australian contingent and 250 British Army Gurkhas are expected to land in the East Timorese capital, Dili, today, spearheading the multinational effort to stop the killing rampage by pro-Indonesian militia groups.

A total of 3200 troops are expected to be on the ground for the United Nations-sanctioned mission by the end of the week.

After meeting Indonesian military commanders in Dili last night, the Australian commander of the peace force, Major-General Peter Cosgrove, said he had received "first-class" help from the Indonesians.

But he also had a warning for pro-Jakarta militias threatening his troops with violence.

"The force will go in prepared ... for illegal, undisciplined groups to use violence," he said, "but, hopefully, we won't ourselves have to react that way."

He added: "Anybody in East Timor who seeks to interfere with the ... mission or to bring violence to defenceless East Timorese will be subject to the provisions of our mandate."

Prime Minister Jenny Shipley yesterday signed a historic order authorising the armed New Zealand troops to defend themselves and those they are protecting in East Timor.

But, unless New Zealand gets transport help from United States military aircraft, its 300-strong Army contingent will await the scheduled arrival in Darwin of a chartered ship on October 10 for most of its equipment, including armoured personnel carriers, before heading to the front line.

Defence commanders said last night that it was unlikely the New Zealand soldiers would be sent ahead to Dili in smaller groups, although the 100-strong Air Force Iroquois helicopter contingent could go in earlier.

The joint Defence Force commander Brigadier Lou Gardiner said the troops would complete training and acclimatise to a tropical climate while in Darwin.

He said military transport assistance from other countries was still a possibility.

Asked if he was frustrated by the delay, Brigadier Gardiner said there was no point in dwelling on what-ifs. "I'm a great believer that you deal with the situation you have."

However, the director of the Military Studies Institute, Piers Reid, said the delay highlighted the obvious lack of a suitable military sealift ship.

The recent parliamentary committee chaired by Act MP Derek Quigley recommended cutting the Navy from three to two frigates and buying two logistics ships to provide a fast response for overseas expeditions.

The Navy's ill-fated Charles Upham troop carrier is finishing a contract ferrying oranges off Spain as it awaits a $35 million upgrade next year.

Mr Reid said getting into the field in the shortest possible time was crucial. He said the mistaken purchase of the Charles Upham and the higher value put on frigates rather than logistic support was now coming home to roost.

The Minister of Defence, Max Bradford, said it would obviously have been preferable for the Charles Upham to have transported all the Army's equipment in one journey.

With the benefit of perfect hindsight, the ship should have undergone its upgrade when it was purchased in 1994. But well before the East Timor crisis, the Government had decided to fast-track the refit, which would be carried out early next year. He did not recall any public or political agitation for extra defence spending to prepare the force before now, but careful planning had been done, including a $3 million upgrade of armoured personnel carriers.

Mr Bradford will join Mrs Shipley, defence chiefs and family and friends to farewell the first contingent of 88 soldiers from Ohakea Air Base this morning.

At least eight of the departing soldiers got married over the weekend, five in ceremonies performed by the Linton Army Camp chaplain Padre Jack Teepa.