DATE=9/30/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=E. TIMOR REBELS (L)
NUMBER=2-254488
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A group of guerrilla independence fighters
has come out of the jungle in East Timor and
offered to work with international peacekeepers
to restore order to the territory. As Patricia
Nunan reports from Jakarta, some of the rebels
had not been in the capital for decades.
Text: Crammed into three vehicles, about two
dozen guerrilla soldiers went unarmed to a hotel
housing leaders of the peacekeeping mission in
the East Timorese capital Dili. They told
peacekeepers they want to turn in captured
weapons that belonged to the Indonesian military.
The guerrillas also said they want to share
information with the peacekeepers that would help
them return stability to the territory.
It is the first time some of the soldiers from
the guerrilla independence army Falintil have
gone to the capital in 24 years. The Falintil
guerrilla army has fought against Indonesian rule
of East Timor since 1975 -- when Indonesian
troops invaded the territory.
But the Falintil guerrillas did not engage in
fighting earlier this month when anti-
independence militia groups went on a bloody
rampage throughout East Timor killing hundreds,
possibly thousands of people and forcing hundreds
of thousands to flee. Independence leaders say
that is proof there is no civil war in East Timor
-- and that the violence was orchestrated by the
miltias and the Indonesian troops that support
them.
About three thousand peacekeepers have been
deployed in East Timor since the mission was
launched last Monday, in response to the militia
violence. The peacekeepers' mandate is to restore
order to the territory so that a United Nations
mission can return to East Timor to implement the
results of the August 30th referendum.
In that ballot, the majority of East Timorese
voters decided the territory should separate from
Indonesia -- sparking the militia violence.
A total of about eight thousand international
troops will eventually be deployed throughout the
territory.
Leaders of the international peacekeeping mission
have yet to formally respond to the offer of
cooperation with Falintil. It is unlikely that
the peacekeepers will work with armed guerrillas,
because their mandate calls for them to disarm
all groups in East Timor.
Also Thursday, Australian officials said the
peacekeepers would be allowed to cross into West
Timor, if they were engaged in a battle with a
militia group. Aid workers say many militia
members have fled into West Timor, from which
militia leaders have pledged to launch a
guerrilla against the peacekeepers.
So far, no clashes between peacekeepers and militia
groups have taken place.
NEB/PN/FC
30-Sep-1999 01:43 AM EDT (30-Sep-1999 0543 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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