Australia spy agency cleared in East Timor death probe

10.30am

CANBERRA - One of Australia's top spy agencies has been cleared of allegations it failed to pass on intelligence that could have prevented the murder of five journalists, including a New Zealander, weeks before Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975.

Defence Minister Robert Hill said a two-year investigation by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, Bill Blick, found no evidence the Defence Signals Directorate (DSD), which can monitor telephone calls, handled intelligence improperly.

"DSD did not have any intelligence material that could have alerted the government to the possibility of harm to the newsmen," Hill said in a statement yesterday.

The journalists were killed when Indonesian troops attacked the Timorese town of Balibo in October 1975. They were Greg Shackleton, New Zealander Gary Cunningham and Tony Stewart, of Channel 7 News in Melbourne, and Malcolm Rennie and Brian Peters, both of National Nine News.

Documents have shown the then-Labor government of Gough Whitlam had advance warning of Indonesia's invasion of East Timor but the conservative government maintains there was no evidence that Australia could have prevented the journalists' death.

However, a book published in 2000 -- Death in Balibo, Lies in Canberra by academic Des Ball and Hamish McDonald -- claimed just hours before the killing of the journalists, DSD intercepted a conversation between Indonesian military mentioning the presence of the journalists.

It was alleged a decision was made in DSD not to pass on knowledge of the intercept as it would prompt a rescue of the journalists, expose the agency's capabilities and perhaps compromise its ability to read Indonesian signals.

The government asked Blick to investigate but Hill said the inquiry found no evidence of the alleged intercept or that hostile interests knew the journalists were in Balibo.

He said this was the third investigation in recent years relating to the events at Balibo with all concluding intelligence material was passed quickly to the government and there was no holding back or suppression of data.

"I hope that (Blick's) conclusions can at last provide closure in relation to key aspects of the Balibo affair," Hill said.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, has since become an independent country, voting overwhelmingly in 1999 for freedom from Indonesia and celebrating its status as the world's newest nation last month.

- REUTERS

Feature: Indonesia and East Timor

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