Indonesian police arrest more over Timor killings

JAKARTA - Indonesian police have arrested four more people for suspected involvement in the killing of three foreign U.N. aid workers in West Timor last month, murders that drove the country's international relations to a fresh low.

National police spokesman Brigadier-General Saleh Saaf said six people had so far been arrested in connection with the killing of the workers from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees by East Timorese pro-Jakarta militias.

All are being detained in West Timor.

"As of yesterday the number of suspects has gone up to six. They are all suspects over the killings and the destruction of the UNHCR office," Saaf said.

He gave no more details. The status of the police investigation into the killings at the West Timor border town of Atambua was also unclear, although Jakarta has been under intense international pressure to bring those responsible to justice.

The United States has also said failure to disarm the militias, which laid waste to much of East Timor when it voted to end Jakarta's rule last year, could jeopardize vital aid flows.

Indonesia has promised to complete the seizure of weapons around the middle of this month, just days before the country's international donors meet in Tokyo to consider Jakarta's request for a fresh US$4.8 billion in fresh aid.

Police also have notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres under arrest in Jakarta on suspicion of being involved in the sacking of the UNHCR office.

In addition, Guterres is a suspect in a separate probe over violence in East Timor last year.

Following his arrest, dozens of Guterres supporters, some wearing army fatigues, met their leader at police headquarters in a supervised news conference, prompting an emotional outburst from the swaggering 27-year-old.

"We have done nothing wrong, (Indonesia) did nothing wrong," shouted Guterres, visibly shaken and with tears running down his cheeks, SCTV Television showed.

The pro-Jakarta gangs, based around camps housing 120,000 East Timorese refugees near the West Timor border, went on a systematic campaign of destruction after East Timor voted to end 23 years of Indonesian rule last year.

That violence forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee the territory to West Timor. Around 180,000 remain.

- REUTERS

Herald Online feature: the Timor mission

UN Transitional Administration in E Timor