DATE=9/15/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=Q&A: EAST TIMOR / PEACEKEEPERS CQ
NUMBER=2-253907
BYLINE=VICTOR BEATTIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON / DARWIN
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///// FIXES FIRST QUESTION of CR2-253903
TO INTRO BECAUSE IT IS UNVOICED. EDITTED TAPE
AVAILABLE FROM BUBBLE./////
INTRO: The U-N Security Council has authorized
(Wednesday) an international peacekeeping mission to
East Timor to help salvage the Indonesian territory's
independence vote. Australian troops leading the
peacekeeping mission are getting ready to go into East
Timor from the northern Australian city of Darwin. V-
O-A's Victor Beattie spoke with Australian
Broadcasting Corporation reporter Anne Barker about
the preparations in Darwin. He asked about the
Australian peacekeeping commitment.?
BARKER: The Prime Minister, John Howard, said last
week we would be prepared to commit up to four-and-
one-half-thousand troops, although that would be in
two stages. Up front we would commit two-thousand
troops. And there are already two-thousand troops
roughly based in Darwin and several-hundred more in
Townsville on the northern east coast of Australia.
That would make up a good half of the international
force. At this stage we are not sure just how many
troops will be coming from the various countries that
have offered them.
BEATTIE: How soon can it be before they are on the
ground in East Timor?
BARKER: Well that is the big question everyone is
asking today. .Part of the problem is the Australian
government has made it clear they would not be sending
in Australian troops on their own, so they would have
to wait for troops further afield.
At this stage the countries that are pretty firm to be
included in this peacekeeping force are largely from
either the ASEAN countries Malaysia, Thailand, the
Philippines, and Singapore - [or] Canada, the U-K and
New Zealand -- that will commit troops.
Now troops from Canada and Britain, if they do not
have their own transport, quite possibly it is looking
like the United States, which is to play a major
transport role in this, will have to pick up those
troops or those troops will have to make their way to
America. I am not sure yet how that would work. But
it could be at least a day or so before all those
foreign troops could assemble in Darwin. And there is
likely to be initial debriefing sessions, so [that]
might delay them another day, so I think it would be
at least the end of the week before we see the first
peacekeepers going into East Timor.
BEATTIE: And why is Australia, aside from its
geographical proximity to East Timor, taking such a
lead role in this crisis?
BARKER: Well East Timor has been a major issue in
Australia for at least the past 25-years. East Timor,
or Timor generally, is only an hour-and-one-half
flight from Darwin.
Australia played a fairly major role in East Timor
during the Second World War. There is a lot of talk
during the past decades about the fact that the East
Timorese helped to protect Australian soldiers when
they were being attacked by the Japanese in the second
World War. The R-A-A-F, Australia's air force,
actually dropped leaflets into East Timor after the
war saying -- we would not forget you, we would not
let you down if you need help from us, we will be
there in the future. That of course has rung hollow
for the past two-and-a-half decades, because the East
Timorese have appealed for Australian support in their
conflict with the Indonesians, and the Australian
government as far back as 1978 gave recognition to
Indonesia's sovereignty over East Timor.
So it has been one of those very contentious issues in
Australia for 25-years and the Australian public is
vastly in favor of East Timorese independence. That
has put the Australian government under enormous
pressure, especially over the last few weeks and
months. Just last week we had massive rallies in
Australia -- thousands of people in Melbourne and
Sydney calling on the Australian government to take
much tougher action against the Indonesian government.
So the government now is really being forced to take
the action that it has -- if only from the Australian
public -- but certainly because of the fact that East
Timor is right on our door step.
BEATTIE: Indonesia has criticized, rather opposed I
should say, Australia's participation in such a
peacekeeping force, preferring Southeast Asian nations
only as contributing members to this peacekeeping
force. Is this because Australia has been such a
local critic of Indonesia's security operations in
East Timor?
BARKER: There has been on-going tension in the
Australian/ Indonesian relationship for many decades.
And East Timor has always been a major thorn in the
relationship. And the fact that Australia has a very
different human rights culture from Indonesia -- that
has been the major bone of contention.
Australian opposition -- the Labour Party, which was
in government for most of the past 15-years or so, is
now saying we should not seek to salvage the
relationship with Indonesia at any cost. [It says] we
now have to put the human rights of East Timor above
that relationship, and yes Indonesia is one of our
closest neighbors and a good relationship with
Indonesia is essential, but it should not override the
rights of people like the East Timorese.
NEB/GC/RAE
15-Sep-1999 08:44 AM LOC (15-Sep-1999 1244 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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