SLAIN
PEACEKEEPER WEAPON RETURNED
Dili,
East Timor:
The captured weapon of a New Zealand peacekeeper killed by militia in
East Timor was returned to his comrades just before noon today about 11:45 a.m.
by the Indonesian Army at Suai in the territory's south-west.
Armed
militia stole the Minimi Light Support Weapon (a 5.56mm light machine gun) from
the body of Private Leonard Manning whom they had just killed during a clash at
Nanu on 24th July.
The
Minimi was recently retrieved by the Indonesian Army (TNI) following the
detention of three suspected militia near Laktutus on the border with East and
West Timor on 27th October.
It
was handed-over
to
Brigadier Ken Gillespie, Commander Sector West by Colonel Budi Heryantu,
TNI Commander West Timor who flew into Headquarters Sector West in Suai earlier
via a Bell 205 TNI helicopter.
Brigadier
Gillespie will be handing back subsequently the recovered weapon to New Zealand
Battalion under his command at Sector West.
The
Acting UN Force Commander, Major General Mike Smith, welcomed the return of
Private Manning’s weapon.
"I
thank Major General (Kiki) Syahnakri (Commander KODAM IX) and the TNI for the
action they have taken to recapture Private Manning's weapon from the militia
and return it to the New Zealand Battalion before their departure from East
Timor," he said.
"It
was the expressed wish of Private Manning's family that his weapon be returned
and not used to kill or injure anyone else".
Following
the detention of the militia suspects at Laktutus, the UN Peacekeeping Force and
the TNI have been involved in regular discussions to identify the origin of the
Minimi and then to arrange for its return.
Private
Manning, from the New Zealand Battalion (NZBATT) was the first of two UN
peacekeepers to be killed in action since the deployment of the UNTAET
Peacekeeping Force in February.