Soldier fires first NZ shot in East Timor

A New Zealand soldier in East Timor has fired a shot for the first time during the current deployment to the country.

The solider fired a warning shot to stop a group armed with machetes from harassing locals, Defence Minister Phil Goff said today.

He also revealed that the initial platoon of New Zealand Defence Force troops sent to East Timor after the recent civil unrest would be replaced next week.

Mr Goff said the warning shot was fired during a patrol near Becora last week to disperse a 30-strong group armed with machetes who were "harassing other locals".

"After repeated efforts by New Zealand soldiers to disarm and disperse the crowd were unsuccessful, the warning shot was fired," he said.

The soldiers had felt their East Timorese interpreter was under threat of death or serious injury, he said.

Mr Goff said warning shots had been fired by Defence Force troops on previous operations in Timor and the Solomon Islands.

He said the risk on the ground was not being taken lightly, and troops had dealt with last week's incident professionally and confidently.

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced yesterday that up to 25 New Zealand police officers were being sent to help restore law and order in East Timor.

Police were expected to leave within two weeks and remain for about three months. Initially they were likely to work alongside the 167-strong New Zealand Defence Force deployment.

Mr Goff said the Defence Force troops in East Timor would welcome the police help. The New Zealand police and military working together in East Timor would help stabilise the situation there, he said.

The office of Police Minister Annette King confirmed today the police would carry firearms.

Mr Goff said he hoped the United Nations would decide more police from other countries should be deployed to East Timor.

"In the foreseeable future, however, I believe that Defence Force personnel will need to stay on the ground to provide that basic support and stability for the work the police officers can do," he said.

Mr Goff said the first New Zealand platoon in Timor would be brought home because the soldiers had been dispatched at very short notice.

"But they are being replaced and we will maintain a company level presence there, I would think certaintly through the full six-month deployment and probably into next year and the time of the East Timorese election which could be around March, April."

The decision to send police followed a recent fact finding mission by a team of New Zealand police and calls by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for a 500-strong police squad under UN control.

At present there are about 2500 foreign troops on the ground from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal.

- NZPA