Fri, Sep 03, 1999 page1

• Habibie may ask for UN peacekeepers

  REACTION IN EAST TIMOR As the territory slides into anarchy, Indonesia's president is considering a UN peacekeeping force to quell the growing violence

  • AGENCIES
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  With foreign governments demanding an end to violence in East Timor, Indonesia yesterday moved closer to accepting a UN peacekeeping force.

  President B.J. Habibie's top aide said the idea might be "worth considering." The armed forces said such troops would be needed if, as expected, East Timor is headed for independence.

  The statements mark a dramatic shift for the Jakarta government, which had previously insisted on maintaining order by itself in the former Portuguese colony.

  

  East Timorese refugees scramble over the wall of the United Nations headquarters in search of safety, above, after fighting between rival factions erupted in Dili. Militiamen who are pro-Indonesian, allowed free rein by Indonesian police, went on a rampage, firing shots and clashing with pro-independence supporters around the UN headquarters. Witnesses said at least five people died and about 400 refugees, UN staff and journalists crowded into the compound.

  PHOTO: REUTERS

  The US, Australian and Portuguese governments are among those pressuring Jakarta to take swift action against the gangs of thugs who have been hacking and shooting one another to death.

  That pressure may have persuaded Habibie to consider outside help to keep the independence supporters and pro-Indonesia militias in check.

  "The possibility is not closed for the government to allow the United Nations to deploy a UN peacekeeping force in East Timor, but this matter has not been discussed by the government," State Secretary Muladi told reporters.

  

  BBC journalist Jonathan Head comes under attack by militiamen in Dili, right, in this image taken from television. Head said he felt lucky to escape with his life after he was beaten by one of the militiamen. Footage shot by Head's own camera team shows him desperately trying to escape.

  PHOTO: AP

  Muladi, who is President Habibie's top aide, added: "If the situation in East Timor worsens, I think the possibility for that would be worth considering."

  Scores of Indonesian and foreign journalists left East Timor yesterday amid widespread intimidation and violence by pro-Jakarta militias.

  The journalists -- foreigners and Indonesians working for local and overseas media -- were among people packing the day's only outbound commercial flight bound for Bali from East Timor's capital, Dili.

  The flight was held up for 30 minutes while Aitarak militiamen, who say they will stop any East Timorese leaders fleeing the territory, argued over the nationality of a local with an Australian passport.

  Militiamen beat up and shot at journalists who were covering Wednesday's violence outside the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) headquarters in Dili.

  Gun-toting militiamen directed fire at journalists and several reporters -- both foreign and Indonesian -- were beaten up with sticks and the blunt edges of machetes as they fled.

  One reporter said Indonesian police did nothing to intervene. "They could have but they did not," he said.

  Indonesia invaded the impoverished territory in 1975, a few months after the hasty departure of Portugal's colonial administration, and annexed it the following year. An estimated 200,000 or more people have been killed in the violence that followed.

  Brig Gen Sudrajat, the chief military spokesman, told reporters yesterday that some sort of UN force would be needed if East Timorese voters chose independence in this week's UN-sponsored referendum.

  In that case, he explained, the Indonesian military and police would pull out of East Timor and some credible force would be needed to prevent a power vacuum.

  "Of course, in the process of transition we will need UN soldiers, because logically the Indonesian police and military have to leave East Timor," he said.

  The UN has already already promised to assist the East Timorese whether they choose independence, or autonomous status within Indonesia.

  During a visit to Jakarta for talks with two cabinet ministers, UN special envoy Jamsheed Marker said he was "very satisfied" with assurances the Indonesians could control the violence in East Timor.

  "He gave me the guarantee that if there was trouble, he would take care of it," Marker said after talking to defense minister and armed forces commander, Gen Wiranto.

  Wiranto has rejected criticism that the military and police had been negligently slow in responding to a deadly fight outside the UN mission headquarters Wednesday.

  In Canberra, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said planning already was under way ``for a United Nations security presence to be brought in place in East Timor.'' He emphasized it would require Indonesian consent.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Chinese carrier group entered Japanese waters

  • 2

    Magnitude 6.4 earthquake hits Hualien County

  • 3

    Taiwan in Time: Snapshots of early Japanese-era Taipei

  • 4

    Think tank hosts war games in Taipei

  • 5

    Students rescued from Cambodia