DATE=10/1/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=E. TIMOR / PEACEKEEPERS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254550
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: International peacekeepers in East Timor
have started pushing into western parts of the
territory for the first time since the
peacekeeping mission was launched almost two
weeks ago. As Patricia Nunan reports from
Jakarta, the move comes as anti-independence
militia leaders vow to take over six districts
in the same area.
TEXT: Australian soldiers were taken by Black-
hawk helicopter into the East Timorese town of
Balibo, 90 kilometers west of the capital Dili.
The maneuver was supported by peacekeepers in
landing-craft and armored vehicles.
It is the first push by troops from the
Australian-led peacekeeping mission to occupy
areas outside the capital since the force was
launched almost two weeks ago. Roughly five
thousand peacekeepers have been deployed to East
Timor to restore order after anti-independence
militias swept through the territory, killing
hundreds, perhaps thousands of people. 300
thousand people fled their homes or were forced
to leave by elements of the Indonesian military,
which back the militias.
The peacekeepers are mandated to bring stability
to East Timor so that the United Nations can
return to help put in place a new government.
The majority of East Timorese voters decided the
territory should break free of Indonesian rule in
a UN-supervised referendum held in August. But
the violence forced most U-N personnel to
evacuate East Timor.
The peacekeepers' move into the western part of
the territory may not be easy. A top militia
leader says he will lead 12 thousand militia-
members in a campaign to take over six western
districts of East Timor. Joao da Silva Tavarres,
a key leader of East Timor's militia-movement, is
threatening to "wipe out" any peacekeepers who
menace him.
The town of Atambua, just over the border in West
Timor has become the unofficial base of the anti-
independence militias. The nearest town in East
Timor is Balibo -- where the peacekeepers have
just moved in.
Meanwhile, the United Nations says it will send a
team of human rights experts to East Timor, next
week, to investigate allegations that elements of
the Indonesian military orchestrated the militia
violence. The United Nations says it will be the
first time individual members of the Indonesian
armed forces may be identified as suspects.
If the allegations are proven, the United Nations
says it may want to set up a war-crimes tribunal
to try members of the Indonesian military.
But the Indonesian government has rejected the
investigation. Instead it has assigned its own human
rights commission to probe the alleged atrocities.
(Signed)
NEB/PN/FC/KL
01-Oct-1999 07:29 AM EDT (01-Oct-1999 1129 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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