Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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Major General Tim Ford inaugurates a Bailey Bridge constructed by Pakistan Engineers in Suai. Full story below.
Pakistan Engineers take a break by giving gift packs to children in Suai.
Brigadier General Alfredo Assuncao, Chief of Staff PKF, is heard over Radio UNTAET Wednesday 3 p.m.( 25 July) during a live interview anchored by Ceu Brites, aired in Portuguese language. The Chief of Staff was speaking about the stable security of East Timor and the capability of the peacekeeping force to maintain that especially the period lead-up to the elections and after.
“SS Bobonaro” rests pretty well and in good shape after a year of repair by Australian Engineers(L). Australian peacekeepers take a pose on board “SS Bobonaro” after pushing it into the water back (R). Full story below.
Brigadier Richard G. Wilson, Commander Sector West (front left) withCapt. Tom Craig, his PI Officer talks to reporters at SW Headquarters yesterday (Jul 19). Full story below.
Taking a look at the other side of the border from East Timor in Junction Point Foxtrot, Cova Lima District.
NEWS RELEASE
23 August 2001 East
Timor Defense Force Deploys
alongside with Peacekeepers The East Timor Defense Force (FDTL) takes one
big step initially by deploying its troops into the three major
sectors in the security structure of the Peace Keeping Force (PKF)
around East Timor, just in time for the first
democratic exercise of
the new nation on August 30th , a year ago since it opted
to become independent. Initially, there are 66 FDTL members who were
tapped to assist the PKF in the election period.
This consists the first phase of deployment which started
three weeks ago with each
sector receiving two
FDTL officers as Liaison officers with 20 strong FDTL men. The people of East Timor can be assured that
FDTL which is their own armed forces, is slowly getting into
the picture supporting the PKF and other UN
agencies to achieve the most desirable security environment which
would ensure a peaceful, orderly and successful elections in the
forthcoming. The head of the
transitional government Sergio Vieira de Mello, who is also
the FDTL Commander-in-Chief wanted
to assure the people that the “East Timorization” process
is well underway when he directed FDTL troops to put themselves in
areas where their level of training at least would allow them. A second deployment phase of the same strength
will take place early September
to maintain the
momentum of the
Timorization process especially
in the countryside. Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak, FDTL Chief
of Staff has been visiting his troops.
On August 21 (Tuesday),
TMR visited Maubisse, Same, Gleno and Liquicia
where his troops are deployed alongside
Portuguese and
Kenyan peacekeepers. TMR
did not fail to notice his
troops to have been doing a great job by closely cooperating with
the UN peacekeepers.
6 August 2001 Investigation on Border Incident Finds that Peacekeepers Acted within Reasonable Grounds An Independent Investigation has reported its
findings into an incident on the 28 July at the border between East
and West Timor. The
incident involved an exchange of fire by UN Peacekeeping Force (PKF)
with a suspected militia, who subsequently transpired to be a TNI
soldier. The Investigation Team consisting of United
Nations Military Observers (UNMO) concluded that the UN peacekeepers
had acted within reasonable grounds, in engaging a man who they
believed had fired on them from over the border from West Timor. The investigation established that the exchange
of fire took place across the border (TCL) but that the UN
Peacekeeping Force (PKF) patrol remained at all times on the East
Timor side of the border. The
PKF had earlier established an observation post following reports of
activity by suspicious armed persons in the vicinity of the
subsequent fatal incident. The investigation established that the deceased
man was a TNI SGT who was out of uniform, carrying a service rifle
close to the TCL contrary to orders from his superiors.
It was further confirmed that two rounds were missing from
the magazine of the weapon that was recovered at the scene. A spent
shell casing was also recovered at the scene. The PKF has been involved in a number of
confrontations with armed elements close to the border with West
Timor since the peacekeeping mission was established in East Timor. The PKF wishes to note that the deceased had
placed himself in great danger by walking armed and in civilian
clothing in the vicinity of the TCL. The PKF Commander Lieutenant General Boonsrang Niumpradit has expressed his regret over the incident and has extended his condolences on the death of Sgt. Lirman Hadimu. BRIEFING NOTES PRESSCON 11 A.M. 1 AUGUST 2001 Update on the 28th July Incident An impartial investigation is being conducted
by the United Nations Military Observer Group (UNMOG) as earlier
agreed upon between the PKF and TNI officials in one of their recent
meetings after the 28th July incident at the border. The UNMOG has requested the TNI officials for
an autopsy report of the TNI soldier who was killed to determine the
projectile that hit him. The
investigation team has been inspecting the area at NTT side. They
will also interview the peacekeeping troops who were involved in the
exchange of fire at the border. This investigation being conducted by the UNMOs
was the mutual agreement between TNI and PKF because of their
authorized access to both sides of the border. They were given a timeframe as soon as possible to complete the investigation to establish fully the circumstances behind the incident.
30 Jul 2001 PKF Commander expresses regret over death of a TNI soldier Lieutenant
General Boonsrang Niumpradit, Force Commander of the United Nations
Peace Keeping Force (PKF) in East Timor has expressed regret over
the death of a TNI
soldier First Sgt.
Lirman Hadimu during
an incident at the border on Saturday 28 July 2001.
28 Jul 01 Peacekeeping Troops Along the Border Being Fired Upon Peacekeeping troops
on forward patrol along the border
4k southwest of
Tilomar took cover positions after one shot was fired at them by
still unidentified number of armed men but suspected
to be militias from
West Timor across the border at
1 p.m. today. The patrol team belonging to the New Zealand
Battalion (NZBATT) returned fire and immediately moved to a secure
position. A helicopter was immediately deployed in the area to augment the team effort to identify
the exact location where the shot came from.
A man across the border was observed to be running for cover
dressed in blue shirt and sporting a white hat with a weapon. Earlier at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, an Australian
Aviation patrol noticed in the same vicinity the presence of about 12 persons carrying at least one weapon. Another person was seen 2km up north, carrying
a spear or weapon and was noticed to be brandishing it aggressively
at the direction of the aircraft. Earlier at 11 a.m., another sighting was
reported 4 km southeast
of Tilomar where 5 persons were seen moving on the eastern bank of
the river Mota Tafara heading in a northwest direction.
They were observed to be in
civilian clothes, with back packs but no weapons visible. A forward patrol heard one shot. Sector West is being secured by peacekeepers
from Australia and New Zealand Battalions under the leadership of
Brigadier Richard Wilson.
27 Jul 24 Peacekeepers
Launch another Bailey Bridge The
Peace Keeping Force (PKF) launched another Bailey Bridge at Mota
Lalik Nallah, along Junction
Point-Foxtrot (JP-F) Road 4k northwest of Suai in East Timor.
This is the only road link between Suai and JP-F. The
Pakistan Engineers who are vital part of the peacekeeping efforts
constructed the 100-foot bridge in just 4 hours Wednesday replacing
an old one which was washed off by heavy rains recently.
Major
General Tim Ford, Military Adviser to the United Secretary General
who is presently on a 5-day visit in East Timor inaugurated the
bridge. He was
accompanied by Major General
Roger Powell, Deputy Force Commander PKF, and other
high-ranking military officers of the PKF. The
bridge rated to carry a maximum weight of 30 tons would benefit the
people especially the
refugees who cross from West Timor and also make it accessible to
other agencies to reach the
people in that
area. The
local community attended the inauguration who later received gift
packs. The
Military Adviser to the Secretary General and
entourage later visited a building being constructed by the
Pakistan Engineers to accommodate the Forward Surgical Team Facility
which will be managed
by members of Slovakia Medical Team. The
new medical facility
would respond to the health
needs of the troops as well as the people of Suai. The
Pakistan Army Engineers received
a pat in the back from Major Gen. Ford for their commitment to the peacekeeping efforts.
24
Jul 01 Peacekeepers
in Sector West Hand-over a Fishing Boat to
East Timorese A dilapidated boat has finally
been put to usable and perfect condition by peacekeepers belonging to the
Australian Battalion (AUSBATT) for
the people of Bicau, a small
community at the northern coastline 10k northeast of Batugade. The fishing boat will be formally turned-over to the Bicau Fishing community later
today during a ceremony to be attended by the
local community and staffs from Sector West. Early last year, AUSBATT Engineers had identified the boat “SS Bobonaro”
which started a long process of repair spanning across three
AUSBATT contingents. It
has received a motor donated by the Victoria Fisheries Department in
Australia as well as several thousand dollars of equipment donated by the
Mosman RSL in Sydney. The motor was recently
installed by Curtin Bros in Port Hera and now
it has been put in good shape and use. The turned-over is a fairly
momentous occasion not only for the people of Bicau but especially those
who put effort and initiative to bring back life in the boat. 20 Jul 01 Security
Situation at the Border
Stable “Security
at Sector West is stable but militia threat remains significant at the
moment,” Brigadier Richard G. Wilson, Sector West Commander said yesterday. “The
level of threat is still the same because there are still rogue elements
as it was before,” he said. The militias have dwindled in number and are
now having a hard time for lack of access to resources nor support from
the people. “But security is much stable at the moment.” “Sector
West provides security against external threats from the border but also
internal threats.” The
good work done by the Australian Battalion (AUSBATT) and New Zealand
Battalion (NZBATT), and other nations at Sector West, particularly in
maintaining a good relationship with the people of East Timor contributed
immensely in achieving a stable security environment.
He
said, they are prepared to
support the election process to achieve a “free and fair elections that
is successful.” Although security is still their main concern, they are prepared to support the election process if there need be at the last resort like transportation, saying “a “successful election is a very important to reach.” Meanwhile,
at approximately 9 pm last night, an element of the
Australian Battalion reacted to a report of 10 personnel armed with knives
in the vicinity of Marko in the Bobonaro District. The Australian Battalion secured the area by establishing a
cordon and maintaining observation onto the personnel who had occupied a
house. Negotiators were used
at approximately midnight, to urge the personnel to exit the house without
their knives and talk to the soldiers.
The personnel left the building peacefully and AUSBATT are
conducting a routine investigation into the operation today. The operation was conducted in close
consultation with the United Nations Military Observer Group and the
Civilian Police. No United Nations or civilian personnel were injured during the security operation. 20 Jul 01 Slovaks
Medical Team Arrives in East Timor Colonel
Peter Daxner Commander of Slovakia Medical Team, together with 34 others
from Slovakia are in East Timor as part of the
medical component of the Peace Keeping Force (PKF) in East Timor. Arriving
in two separate groups two weeks ago, the Slovak Medical Team is composed
of doctors and other medical specialists. They will replace the New Zealand Field Surgeon Team who has been
taking care of the medical and other emergency health needs of
the peacekeeping troops and
the people of Suai for more than a year. Capt.
Stefan Ivanecky, a Slovak surgeon said, they will formally take over the
medical functions from the Kiwis on August 1, this year
after a new field medical facility will be in placed 50 meters away from
Sector West Headquarters in Suai.
Media Monitoring The painful birth of East Timor Two years
after their first jubilant attempt at democracy exploded into a
nightmare of murder, rape and destruction, the people of East Timor
will return to the polls on Thursday to forge a new nation. This time
the guns of 8000 troops and 1400 police will be turned outwards,
protecting a people still struggling to emerge from the trauma of
the carnage that followed their 1999 independence referendum and the
legacies of 24 years of often brutal occupation by Indonesia and 400
years of Portuguese colonialism. But behind
the vote, that will almost certainly deliver real political power to
the Falintil revolutionary movement that led the fight for
independence, are the harsher realities of freedom. East Timor
is among the most desperately poor nations on earth and will remain
so for many years, dependent on the goodwill of a world whose
attention is too easily diverted by a surfeit of crises and pain. Poverty and
inequality are endemic and acute shortages of capital, skills and
resources are part of life. While hope remains alive, the slow
cancer of disillusionment is stirring the first flickers of
resentment and anger. The first
battalion of their own army has been raised, equipped with modern
infantry weapons from the United States and Belgium and training
with soldiers from Australia and Portugal. But the
border is still protected by New Zealanders and Australians, and
troops from a multitude of nations led by a Thai general will remain
beyond independence, winding down their numbers as the threat from
militias in the west recedes. East Timor
is a nation literally rising from the ashes. With
remarkable resilience its people have shaken off the numbing trauma
of the killing of their families and the sacking of their homes to
rebuild from less than nothing, and to focus on a future they will
shape for themselves. They will
have oil and gas to provide income and food to feed themselves. In Xanana
Gusmao and Jose Ramos Horta they have leaders of real international
stature. They will
soon have a President and a Parliament, and a place in the world. But
Thursday's vote will be just the first step on a long, hard road. Two years
ago, when the UN Interfet troops arrived, Dili was a smoking ruin -
every shop, office, warehouse, depot and home systematically looted
then destroyed, records burned, computers smashed, furniture broken,
roofs ripped off. Every other
major town, and most villages, suffered equally. The roads linking
them were marked by squares of ash where houses had been torched.
The countryside was denuded of people and livestock. Crops had
been abandoned. The only food came from aid sacks. Where there was
water, it was dangerously polluted or diseased. A year later
most people were under cover, either in repaired or rebuilt homes,
or living beneath blue UN tarpaulins. Primitive commerce had
returned to the streets and to the rebuilt Dili market. Now children
are back at school, the university and teachers' college re-built,
re-equipped and well into a new curriculum, and power has been
largely restored in the main towns - candles and kerosene will
endure in rural areas for years. There is a
legal system, judges, courts and police, a nascent bureaucracy aided
by the return by Indonesia of photocopies of perhaps two-thirds of
the records destroyed by the militia, and a vibrant trade in fruit,
vegetables and other small consumer goods on roadside and market
stalls. Local
businessmen have returned with capital and ambition, second-hand
cars from Singapore crowd Dili streets, and a wave of entrepreneurs
- some good, others adventurers, profiteers, or fringe dwellers -
have come from abroad, mainly Australia. The building blocks of a
democratic society are being laid. Telephones
barely exist outside Dili, apart from mobile coverage provided by
Australia's state-owned Telstra group - and TV largely means videos
distributed through the UN. But there is
a new official language: Portuguese, to the distaste of many,
especially the young, who would have preferred the far more widely
spoken native Tetum. Bahasa Indonesian, while the language of the
former oppressor, also remains in wide usage. There is
also an official currency. The US dollar has displaced its major
rivals, the Indonesian rupiah and Australian dollar, but not without
controversy and no small profiteering at the changeover, when many
traders simply rewrote prices from $A to $US, effectively doubling
them at a stroke. The UN and
Catholic Church have national radio networks. Falintil and a student
station broadcast in Dili, and there are community radio stations in
Maliana, near the western border, and Los Palos, on the eastern tip
of the island. Dili has two
daily and one weekly newspapers, although production remains based
on the uncertain operations of a UN printing press and backup
photocopiers. Journalists complain that the role of a free press
remains a low priority for UN administrators and key Timorese
politicians. Political
ranks have swollen with the return of UN-guaranteed freedoms. The
proliferation of political parties - 16 will contest the election -
have presented Timorese with a confusion of choice: UN education
programmes in many areas started too late for people who have never
known democracy apart from a single, violent, vote for independence.
This is why
Fretilin is expected to win more than 50 per cent of the votes, and
the largest bloc in the new 88-seat assembly that will replace the
present UN/Timorese transitional administration, draw up a
constitution, hold a presidential election and oversee independence.
It was
Fretilin's founding president, Xavier do Amaral, who first declared
independence in 1975, shortly before the Indonesians swept in
through Balibo and claimed East Timor. And it was the military arm,
Falintil, led by Gusmao, which fought for 24 years in the jungle. Although
Gusmao has not aligned himself politically with the new
post-Indonesian Fretilin and will stand independently for President,
the association of the two is an almost invincible brand. But there
are divisions within Fretilin, some of which have splintered into
rival parties and even into shadowy, semi-mystical groups that have
attached themselves to former enemies still advocating rule from
Jakarta. The odd
blend of strict Catholicism and local animism that believed, for
example, in Gusmao's ability to change into a tree at will, gave
form to a small group of Falintil dissidents as the Sagrada Familia
(Sacred Family), who last year took their weapons and slipped away
from the guerrilla army. They later
became associated with Republica Democratic Timor Leste (RDTL), a
pro-Jakarta party believed in turn to be linked to Partai National
Timor (PNT), formed by turncoat Falintil fighter Abilio Araujo with
Indonesian funds to promote autonomy rather than independence in the
1999 referendum. Although
both links and involvement have been denied, UN investigators
believe Sagrada Familia and RDTL may have been involved in at least
some of the relatively few incidents of political violence that have
occurred in the runup to the election. The absence
of violence is one of the great achievements of Timor's infant
democracy, formalised in a pact brokered by Gusmao between the 16
contesting parties, eschewing conflict and pledging unconditional
acceptance of Thursday's outcome. With the
chasms between parties ranging from hard-left activists to
pro-Jakarta diehards, there is no shortage of controversy. Among
Fretilin's strongest rivals is the centre-Left Social Democratic
Party (PSD) led by Mario Carrascalao, a former East Timor Governor
under Indonesian rule, whose wealthy family is distrusted by many
and whose brother Jaoa has returned from Australia, where charges of
fraud were withdrawn after a change of heart by witnesses. The PSD is a
splinter from the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT), a centre-right
party formed as a rival to Fretilin in the brief interlude between
Portuguese and Indonesian rule. Other likely
major players are the youth- and social issues-oriented Democratic
Party, Associacao Social Democratica Timorese and the Socialist
Party of Timor. Whoever
governs East Timor beyond independence will have their work cut out.
The economy
grew by 15 per cent last year and continues to expand, but this is
from an almost zero base and fuelled mainly by reconstruction,
development and humanitarian aid, supplemented by the local coffee
industry and its prospects in a recovering world market. Timor's real
economic future lies in the wealth of oil and gas in the Timor Sea,
which under the 90-10 split wrestled out of Australia will provide
$A7 billion ($8.48 billion) over 20 years. This has hit
a hitch with the decision by US-owned Phillips Petroleum and its
partners to indefinitely defer exploitation of the biggest field
because of Timor's decision to raise an extra $A1 billion in
royalties, but most analysts have no doubts the wealth will be
extracted. But even
this will not be enough, with UN estimates suggesting projected
annual revenues from all sources of $US65 million ($147.6 million) a
year will fall far short of the $US100 million required to remain
viable. Local wage
rates run to about $US5 ($11.30) a day, and GDP per capita is
$US503, well below even the $US712 of the impoverished Solomon
Islands. This means
East Timor will have to keep the rest of the world involved. It will
also need to continue with a large infrastructure programme, urgent
health and medical projects and comprehensive education and training
initiatives for a population of which only half can read and write. With Aids an
added threat, East Timor is struggling with infant mortality of 135
in 1000 births, far higher than rates in Indonesia and Papua New
Guinea, and life expectancy of just 47 years for men, 49 years for
women. A nation's
birth could scarcely be more painful. Watchdog vents anger at Fretilin poll tactics By Mark Dodd (SMH) With
six days before East Timor goes to the polls, a United
Nations-supported electoral monitoring body has accused the biggest
political party, Fretilin, of intimidating voters. The
Independent Election Media Mediation Panel said Fretilin had been
using threatening language to coerce voters. Various
incidents of "verbal intimidation" involving Fretilin had
occurred in the districts of Maliana, Bobonaro and Sames, the panel
said. In a
statement on Wednesday it accused Fretilin of breaching a July 8
Pact of National Unity, a non-violence accord signed by 14 of the 16
parties contesting next Thursday's elections for a Constituent
Assembly. "Numerous
witnesses including members of the MMP have heard senior Fretilin
leaders use the words dasa rai,
a Tetum term meaning sweep the ground, during campaign appearances
over the past two weeks," the panel said. "This
term has a very disturbing meaning for the people of East Timor
because it recalls intimidation that occurred during the Indonesian
occupation, when the military used the same term to describe
military operations being conducted against the resistance." Representatives
of the Independent Election Commission, the UN-appointed body
running the ballot, declined to comment.. The Fretilin
campaign manager, Mr Francisco Kalbuadi, did not deny the charges,
but warned that any party official who breached the non-violence
accord would be disciplined. Mr Kalbuadi
said Fretilinhad received no formal complaint from the commission or
the UN police. Fretilin had
broadcast statements on UN radio and television publicly rejecting
all forms of voter intimidation. If the
allegations were true the actions were those of a small minority of
militants and did not represent party policy, he said. "We [Fretilin]
are against violence. People are free to talk to whoever they want.
If this really happened we apologise and we appeal to any militants
for peace and stability. That's what is important for this
country."' Fretilin,
founded as a radical pro-independence party in 1974, is the veteran
of the resistance movement, with a huge support base among poor
rural communities of East Timor. More
recently it has renounced much of its 1970s-era socialist ideology
in favour of free-market economic policies. A coalition
of five East Timorese election monitoring organisations said
yesterday that the political campaign had been peaceful and safe in
almost every district. The UN
Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, said in a video message that the
eyes of the world were on the East Timorese once again. East Timor to welcome Japanese Self-Defence force
personnel
(ABC) Senior
East Timorese political figure Jose Ramos-Horta says he welcomes
participation of a Japanese Self-Defense Forces logistical unit in a
U.N. peacekeeping operation, after the country gains full
independence next year. E. Timor Leader Prefers Photography
By DANIEL COONEY, Associated Press Writer (AP)
DILI, East Timor (news
- web
sites) (AP) - East Timor's independence leader Xanana
Gusmao does not want to be the territory's first president. He would
rather be a photographer. When the
fledgling nation signed a landmark multibillion dollar oil and
natural gas deal with Australia recently, he was not participating
with other dignitaries. He was poking a camera in their faces.
When about
5,000 people gathered earlier this month to witness the signing of a
nonviolence pact between rival parties in historic parliamentary
elections being held on August 30, he worked the crowd with his
Minolta SLR. Flanked by a
team of bodyguards, Gusmao climbed atop a platform and elbowed his
way into the middle of a mob of other cameramen and photographers,
vying for the winning shot. Having
achieved his highest goal - leading his ravaged homeland to
independence after 24 years of repressive Indonesian occupation and
four centuries of Portuguese colonialism - Gusmao says he's had
enough of politics. ``I would
rather be a photographer than a politician,'' he told The Associated
Press. His people
may not allow Gusmao to slip out of public life so easily. Ask
anyone on the streets of East Timor's capital, Dili, who they want
as their first president and the answer will be a resounding: ``Xanana!''
``He does
not want the job. But his responsibility to the East Timorese people
is to be the first elected president of this country. He realizes
that,'' said his longtime friend and colleague, acting Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos-Horta. ``And he
would starve as a photographer. He is very bad,'' added Horta, a
Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Gusmao is
not a candidate on the upcoming ballot. However, he could still be
elected to office in presidential elections early next year. Gusmao was
born June 20, 1946, the second of eight children. At age 13, his
schoolteacher father packed him off to a Jesuit seminary in the
hills above Dili. In 1968, he
got his first taste of life as a soldier when he was recruited by
the Portuguese into their colonial army to serve three years of
national service. Although
Portugal was a neo-fascist state at the time, its army in East Timor
was a hotbed of leftist activity. Most junior officers were
reservists fed up with the bloody wars in Angola, Mozambique and
Guinea Bissau. They indoctrinated their East Timorese soldiers,
including Gusmao, with a healthy dose of social-democratic ideals
that remain with him to this day. Portugal
withdrew from the territory in 1975, following an army-led coup in
Lisbon. Indonesia invaded in December, and Gusmao joined the
resistance army known as Falintil, consisting mostly of former
colonial troops. By 1982 he
had assumed command of the war-weary guerrillas, who lived off the
land and generosity of the people. This support
helped them survive massive offensives by Indonesia's savage,
U.S.-trained and equipped military. But a third of the population
perished - the highest per capita death toll of any modern war.
Gusmao and his men killed about 10,000 of the invaders, terrifying
and demoralizing the occupiers. In 1992, the
Indonesians captured Gusmao during a clandestine visit to Dili and
jailed him in Jakarta. He remained incarcerated until 1999, when the
fall of Indonesia's brutal dictator Suharto (news
- web
sites) granted the tiny territory the right to hold a
referendum on self-determination. That August,
the overwhelming majority of East Timorese opted for independence in
a U.N.-supervised plebiscite, sparking a bloody retaliatory rampage
by Indonesia's army and its militia proxies. Gusmao was
released and returned to East Timor in October, after Australian-led
peacekeepers had restored order and expelled the Indonesians. Hailed
as a hero, he immediately set about promoting reconciliation between
those who had been for and against independence. The
half-island territory of 700,000 people is being governed by the
United Nations (news
- web
sites) during its transition to full independence,
expected sometime next year. With the
impending elections, which will choose a new 88-member assembly that
will steer the nascent nation to independence, Gusmao has stepped up
his calls for national unity amid fears of political unrest. ``No more
fighting,'' he told the crowd which had gathered to witness the
signing of the nonviolence pact. ``During the past 24 years we have
suffered enough. It is time for democracy.'' Despite the
pressure to become president, Gusmao is acutely aware of the mess
other new nations have found themselves in when former freedom
fighters took over the government. He addressed the issue in his
autobiography, ``To Resist is to Win.'' ``The
history of the Third World is repeating itself,'' he wrote. ``The
leader of the resistance will end up as president, even if he is not
up to the task. Guerrilla commanders will be generals ... all
because we were the heroes.'' Howard
flies in for Megawati meeting
August 12, 2001 Posted: 12:29 PM HKT (0429 GMT)
CNN By staff and wires SYDNEY,
Australia -- Australian Prime Minister John Howard is en route to
Jakarta, where he will become the first head of state to visit newly
installed Indonesian Prime Minister Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Howard
is hoping to make a positive start with Megawati's government,
building on the sometimes-strained relationship he had with her
predecessor, Abdurrahman Wahid. Indonesia is Australia's closest
neighbor, but the two nations have endured a rocky history. The
most recent tensions arose when Jakarta expressed anger over what it
saw as Australia's support for East Timor's independence movement
and its subsequent leadership of a peacekeeping force deployed in
the former Indonesian province in 1999.
But
Wahid, who was impeached by Indonesia's parliament last month,
bolstered relations in June when he made the first visit to
Australia by an Indonesian head of state in 26 years. 'Fundamental
importance'
"We
shouldn't exaggerate the potential of the relationship, nor should
we ignore its fundamental importance," Howard said prior to
departing on a commercial flight from Sydney Airport. "Our
relationship has had difficulties in the past, and we don't in any
way pull back from anything Australia has done in the past, but we
do look to the future." Howard
is scheduled to pay a brief visit to Megawati, the 54-year-old
daughter of Indonesia's founding president Sukarno, at Jakarta's
presidential palace after he arrives in Jakarta late Sunday. A
one-hour bilateral meeting is planned for Monday morning, followed
by talks with Indonesia's parliamentary leaders Amien Rais and Akbar
Tandjung. Howards
visit comes ahead of a planned visit by Megawati to Washington for
talks with President George W. Bush. New
turmoil
U.S.
Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, the most senior foreign
official to visit Jakarta since Megawati won office, said Saturday
that Megawati had accepted Bush's invitation to visit Washington on
September 19. But
Howard also arrives at a time of fresh turmoil in Jakarta, with the
U.S. responding at the weekend to anonymous threats of violence
against its citizens in the troubled archipelago. Extremists
have issued anonymous warnings that attacks against American
interests in Indonesia were being planned, prompting the U.S.
Embassy in Jakarta to warn tourists to take precautions. In
a statement, the U.S. consul said extremist elements could target
U.S. government facilities, but said the threat also extended to
tourists and hotel guests. "Americans
in Indonesia should maintain a low profile, vary routes and times
for all required travel and treat mail and packages from unfamiliar
sources with suspicion," the statement said. Travel
warning
The
travel warning updates an earlier call that advised American
citizens to defer all nonessential travel to Indonesia because of
separatist and religious violence in outlying provinces. A
series of unexplained bombings have also hit the country. The
Indonesian government has already restricted travel by U.S. and
other international officials into Aceh, Papua and areas within
Maluku and North Maluku knows as the Moluccas. The
State Department is advising private Americans to observe those same
restrictions. The
travel warning notes that bombings of religious, political and
business targets have occurred throughout the country. Also,
some international travelers have been subject to arbitrary arrest
and, in at least one case, false accusations of espionage. Most
of Indonesia's 210 million people are Muslims, making it the world's
largest Islamic nation. Muslim
groups sometimes demonstrate outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta
protesting Washington's alleged support for Israel in the Middle
East.
E TIMORESE YOUTH
FIRES AT INDON TROOPS ACROSS BORDER However, there were no casualties in the incident, commander of the 131st Infantry Unit/Braja Sakti Task Force, Lt.Col.Agung Risdhianto, said here Friday. The shooting incident occurred across the Malibaka river, the tactical coordination line (TCL) inside the East Timor town of Bobonaro, which directly borders on Kewar village in the Lamaknen subdistrict of Belu, a town in East Nusa Tenggara (West Timor). Agung quoted several witnesses as saying Armindo, a bandit from Sassa and Atos villages in the East Timor town of Bobonaro, fired at the Indonesian troops with a pistol four times before fleeing. Armindo might have done the random shooting in the hope that the Indonesian soldiers would fire back and thus create new tension with the UNKPF following the recent killing of an Indonesian soldier by New Zealand members of the UNKPF, he said. When the incident occurred, the border area was crowded with people involved in illegal trading. Thus, had the Indonesian soldiers reacted emotionally and answered Armindo`s fire, they might have hit civilians on East Timor territory, he said. But none of the Indonesian troops opened fire at the crowd across the border although Armindo was standing in their midst when he pulled the trigger of his pistol. The TNI troops only fired warning shots into the air to disperse the crowd and thus get a clear view of who had shot at them . `Shortly after the shooting incident, we conducted an investigation and found a number of people who saw Armindo shoot (at the TNI),` he said. By coordinating with the UN peacekeepers from the Australian unit, he said the incident had been reported to a UN military liaison in Turiscain post, East Timor. Soon thereafter, a group of UN acekeepers, backed by a helicopter, swept the area to search for weapons and the suspect. `We are going to know the result of the UNPKF investigation on August 13 ...,` he added. An Indonesian soldier in plain clothes was gunned down by the UN peacekeepers recently, drawing a strong protest from the Indonesian government. East Timor was formerly an Indonesian province. The territory seceded from the republic as a consequence of the pro-independence outcome of a UN-organised ballot in August 1999.
In
brief: New Timor head Lt-Gen Winai Phatthiyakul, director of the Joint Directorate of Intelligence at Supreme Command, would replace Lt-Gen Boonsang Niampradit, another Thai officer, who returns to Thailand late this month. Lt-Gen Winai would take over command of the UN force, which comprises 8,900 soldiers from 24 countries, including about 700 from Thailand, at Dili. He would supervise the Aug 30 elections in East Timor, and oversee setting up of a constitution drafting council.
Copyright © Asia Intelligence Wire UN: Peacekeepers' Action Justified
DILI, East Timor (news - web sites) (AP) - A U.N. investigating team found that the actions of peacekeepers were justified in the fatal shooting of an Indonesian soldier last month, an U.N. official said Monday. The Indonesian soldier, a 21-year-old sergeant, was shot to death on July 28 in a clash with about 30 New Zealand troops. The soldier, who was out of uniform, fired at least two shots at the peacekeepers from the Indonesian side of the unmarked border before they returned fire. The exchange occurred about 21/2 miles southwest of the town of Tilomar, near East Timor's southern coast. ``The investigating team consisting of United Nations (news - web sites) military observers concluded that the U.N. peacekeepers had acted within reasonable grounds in engaging a man who they believed had fired on them from over the border,'' said peacekeeping spokesman Capt. Isabelito Sanchez. East Timor was devastated by Indonesian troops and militias after it voted for independence from Indonesia in a U.N.-sponsored referendum in 1999. It is now under the administration of the world body, which has about 8,000 peacekeepers there. Border clashes between peacekeepers and militia fighters have raised fears of violence as East Timor prepares to choose a constituent assembly in Aug. 30 elections, ahead of full independence next year. Gen. Wiranto, the former military commander who was fired last year over allegations of human rights abuses in East Timor, told reporters in Jakarta that he was ready to be tried if prosecutors find evidence of wrongdoing. Like many Indonesians, Wiranto uses only one name. ``If we are found guilty then we are ready to be punished,'' he said, after a meeting with new President Megawati Sukarnoputri. ``We will leave it to the government to prove the charges in an honest, open trial.'' The trials of several soldiers and militia fighters, who prosecutors have implicated in the violence, are expected to start later this year. Even though state-sponsored human rights investigators accused Wiranto of being involved in the bloodshed, prosecutors have left his name off a list of those to be tried.
East Timor: Security
Council Divided Over Post-January UN Presence The United Nations Security Council is divided over the organization`s presence in East Timor after the mandate of the territory`s UN transition administration (UNTAET) ends in Janary 2002, with differences centering on the amount and method of financing. Sources close to the process told Lusa Friday that France and the United States (both permanent Council members) had expressed reservation about the preliminary proposal for an extended UN presence, which was drawn up by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and submitted to the Council last week. Annan`s report, to be followed by a definitive proposal in October, calls for a continued UN presence in East Timor, with specialists in various areas, but with substantially less personnel than at present. France is seeking even greater spending reductions in the territory, a position it has manifested for the past several months, the sources contacted by Lusa said. The United States also favors limiting spending and at the same time questions the method of financing. Washington`s position is that the future mission`s civilian component should not be financed from the United Nations budget (funded by member-nations` compulsory payments) but by donations from countries that support the operation. Accordingly, peacekeeping missions should be financed by the UN budget, but not peace-building operations. The differences within the Security Council led to cancellation of plans to issue a statement on Wednesday, as a follow-up to the Monday meeting that reviewed Annan`s report. East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was occupied by Indonesia from 1975 to 1999, when an overwhelming majority of the population voted for independence in a UN-sponsored plebiscite. The territory has since been run by UNTAET, which has a mandate to oversee its transition to full independence.
Trauma among NZ soldiers
possibly behind shooting of RI soldier A
top regional military commander said here traumatic feelings over
last year`s killing of New Zealand soldier Leonard Manning among
members of the New Zealand batallion in the United Nations
Peacekeeping Force (UNPKF) in East Timor may have led to last
Saturday`s shooting of an Indonesian soldier by a New Zealand
serviceman on the border with East Timor. `I think they (New Zealand battalion) were so
afraid that they strictly implemented the operation procedures on
border surveillance issued by the UNPKF command,` said Udayana
Military Commander Major General William da Costa here Tuesday. Manning was hacked to death by Jakobus Bere and
friends in the district of Fotodebululik in Kovalima, East Timor, on
July 24, last year.
US$6.5bil gas pipeline
from East Timor to Australia shelved DARWIN,
Australia (AP) - In a blow to investment in northern Australia and
cash-strapped East Timor, an oil company announced Wednesday it has
shelved plans to build a pipeline from natural gas fields north of
Australia to the port of Darwin. U.S.-based
Phillips Petroleum said it has deferred indefinitely plans to build
the Timor Sea gas pipeline which would have underpinned 13 billion
Australian dollars (dlrs 6.5 million) in investment. Phillips
said the decision was made unanimously with joint venture partners
because of new financial issues raised in the Timor Gap agreement
between Australia and East Timor signed last month. ''This
decision may prevent commercialization of certain Timor Sea gas
resources,'' Phillips said in a statement. The
gas reserves are expected to be a major source of revenue for the
fledgling East Timorese state. Under
the Timor Gap deal, signed last month, East Timor will receive 90
percent of the royalties from the oil and natural gas drilling, with
the remaining 10 percent going to Australia. Over
20 years starting from 2004, East Timor had been expected to receive
more than dlrs 3.6 billion in royalties from existing and planned
oil and natural gas drilling in the 75,000 square kilometer (30,000
square mile) area between the two countries. It
was not immediately clear Wednesday what impact the decision not to
proceed with the pipeline would have on the projected earnings. ''The
deferral reflects the need to resolve certain critical legal, fiscal
and taxation issues - arising from the Timor Sea arrangement entered
into between the governments of Australia and East Timor on July 5 -
before further investment can proceed in either the pipeline or in
any gas or liquefied natural gas development,'' Phillips said.
Militia,
Troops clash in E. Timor DILI,
East Timor (AP) 28 Jul 01 UN
peacekeepers and suspected militiamen exchanged gunfire near East
Timor's border with Indonesia on Saturday, but no one was injured,
UN officials said. A
group of armed men fired a single shot at a company of New Zealand
troops stationed close to the border town of Tilomar, said UN
peacekeeping spokesman Capt. Isabelito Sanchez. The
troops returned fire before the suspected militia group fled the
area, he said. East
Timor, which was devastated by Indonesian troops after it voted for
independence in a U.N.-sponsored referendum in 1999, is currently
under the administration of the world body which has about 8,000
peacekeepers in the territory. The
incident - the latest in a series of border clashes - comes as East
Timor prepares for elections on Aug. 30 to choose a constituent
assembly. There are fears that violence could disrupt the polls. Groups
of armed pro-Indonesian militia have infiltrated East Timor from
neighboring Indonesian West Timor since the arrival of international
peacekeepers two years ago. Indonesia
claims UN killed soldier KUPANG,
Indonesia (AP) - UN peacekeepers shot and killed an Indonesian
soldier near the border with East Timor, Indonesia's military said
Sunday. First
Sgt. Lirman Hadimu, 21, was shot four times on Saturday in West
Timor, about 65 feet from the border with East Timor, local military
commander Lt. Col. Budi Heriyanto said. Unlike East Timor, West
Timor is part of Indonesia. Heriyanto
said he met with Brig. Gen. Wilson, the UN commander who oversees
that section of the border, to discuss it. He
said Wilson acknowledged his troops shot Hadimu, who was out of
uniform and carrying a weapon when he was killed. They
agreed to investigate the shooting, he said. UN
peacekeepers could not immediately be reached for comment. On
Saturday, a UN spokesman said a company of New Zealand troops
exchanged gunfire with suspected militiamen in East Timor, near
Tilomar town. That is four miles from where the Indonesian soldier's
body was found. East
Timor was devastated by Indonesian troops and their militia proxies
after it voted for independence from Indonesia in a U.N.-sponsored
referendum in 1999. It is now under the administration of the world
body, which has about 8,000 peacekeepers there.
Annan
backs extended Timor UN mission
By
Greg Barrow at the UN United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has recommended that a UN
military contingent should remain in East Timor beyond the
transitional period following elections scheduled for the end of
August. In a
report submitted to the UN Security Council, Mr Annan warned of the
continuing threat to stability in East Timor from pro-Indonesian
militia groups which are still able to infiltrate the country's
border with West Timor. Mr Annan
said close attention should be paid to the security situation in
East Timor before taking any decision on the size of the UN police
or military presence. There is
concern among some UN member states that the international
commitment to maintaining peace and stability in East Timor is
waning. Losing
interest
In the
words of one diplomat, there is a feeling that East Timor is now out
of the emergency ward and the time has come to look at scaling down
the UN presence. But in a
report submitted to the Security Council, Mr Annan said
pro-Indonesian militia groups still pose a threat to both the
internal stability of East Timor and the security of East Timorese
refugees in West Timor. The
report notes the concern that some militia elements may have adopted
a strategy of lying low until the full independence of East Timor in
the belief that the international military presence will be scaled
down. Mr Annan
suggests that instead, the current UN troops should be moved from
peaceful areas of East Timor and redeployed in larger numbers in
trouble spots like the country's border with West Timor. These
recommendations are likely to win support from East Timor's allies
in the region who believe the country still has some way to go
before peace and stability are the norm.
East Timor: Dili´s Leaders Meet with Six Asian Foreign Ministers in
Hanoi
East Timor: Urging ´Solid Friendship´, Dili´s Leaders Congratulate
Megawati East Timor´s senior leaders, saying a shared "tragic history" should be left behind, congratulated Megawati Sukarnoputri´s rise to the Indonesian presidency Tuesday and called for a "solid and lasting friendship" between their neighboring countries. "In the name of the Timorese people, we congratulate Megawati Sukarnoputri and wish her much success in the noble task of leading one of the world´s greatest nations", independence leader Xanana Gusmao and transition Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta said in a message sent to Jakarta. The Timorese, who are in Hanoi attending a ASEAN ministerial meeting, said Megawati would be a "good president" and a "good friend" of East Timor. "Our two countries share a common border and a tragic history", Gusmao and Ramos Horta noted, urging the continuation of "the process of dialogue for normalization of relations and construction of the foundations of a solid and lasting friendship". In the message, they "lament the departure of our friend", former President Abdurrahman Wahid, referring to him by his nickname, Gus Dur. Wahid, who was dismissed by the Indonesian legislature Monday, had been a "good friend" and done much "to help repair" bilateral relations, following 24 years of Indonesian occupation and a wave of pro-Jakarta militia violence in 1999, Gusmao and Ramos Horta said.
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