U.N. told of militia danger as East Timor celebrates independence

2:00 PM

Commemorating East Timor's independence vote a year ago, U.N. Security Council members have decried existing disasters that began when militia pillaged the territory to protest its break from Indonesia.

Violence by the organised gangs has escalated, most of them invading from neighbouring Indonesian West Timor, prompting the United Nations to delay troop reductions in the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).

A senior U.S. official warned members they should be prepared for a worst-case scenario in which the militias may try to destabilise East Timor through "guerrilla-style operations" against peacekeepers and civilians.

"The level of activity within East Timor is reflective of a degree of co-ordination and preparation to these activities not seen before," Hedi Annabi, a U.S. assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping, told the council.

"The events of the past month again raise serious concern regarding the capacity or the willingness of the TNI (Indonesian army)- or some elements within the TNI - to prevent militia activity," he said.

Annabi said the ultimate objectives of the guerrillas were still unknown. "However, overall it is felt that their intent is to continue a pattern of violence against the civilian population and UNTAET in order to try and undermine the transition process," he said.

Almost all council members and other U.N. ambassadors attending the open debate said the level of violence against U.N. staff and peacekeepers was unacceptable.

But there were few prescriptions on what would subdue the militia.

U.N. peacekeepers took over security early this year from an Australian-led force that stopped the initial rampaging in the territory last September by the militia, originally organised by the Indonesian army.

Indonesia's military had ruled East Timor since it invaded in 1975 after Portugal, the former colonial ruler, abruptly pulled out of the territory.

There are now more than 8,000 troops, 198 military observers, 1,270 civilian police officers and some 2,684 civilians assisting East Timor's transition to independence.

Annabi had wanted to reduce contingents by some 500 soldiers but said the cut would be delayed because of militia activity.

After the Aug. 30, 1999, vote, in which 80 percent of the population cast ballots for independence, the militia went on a killing, looting and scorched-earth spree.

They also marched thousands to West Timor, where more than 100,000 people are still in squalid refugee camps, many against their will.

Security Council members lamented the death of New Zealand and Nepalese peacekeepers and attacks on refugee workers in West Timor during the last month.

"This is intolerable, and my delegation would like to take this opportunity to repeat New Zealand's expectation that the Indonesian government will take effective action," New Zealand Ambassador Michael Powles said.

But Indonesia's Ambassador Makarim Wibisono dismissed allegations that the military was arming or supporting the militia. "We must not forget that the refugee problem is a complex, complicated and multidimensional one," he said.

He said that once armed gangs had slipped into East Timor despite Indonesian vigilance, the United Nations had a mandate to take all necessary action, and he urged it to do so.

Wibisono said Indonesia was willing to close the refugee camps and transfer people to East Timor or elsewhere but funding to carry this out was required.

He noted that some of the 130,000 refugees in the camps were frustrated because of the lack of employment, food and other basic necessities that awaited them in East Timor.

In East Timor, people celebrated the anniversary with songs for the dead and hope for the future.

As midnight came, the leading pro-independence group's first public congress on home soil broke into cheers, singing and cries of "Viva East Timor!"

"You might shout because you are crying. You might tell the world because you are suffering. But this day is yours. Our people's day," said Xanana Gusmao, the former guerrilla leader for independence, his voice breaking.

- REUTERS

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