DATE=10/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR / GUERRILLAS (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254630
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Leaders of the international peacekeeping mission
in East Timor say peacekeepers will begin disarming members
of the territory's guerrilla independence army. As
Patricia Nunan reports, the head of the peacekeeping force
announced the plan after a tense standoff between the
peacekeepers and the guerrillas.
TEXT: The head of the international peacekeeping
force, Major General Peter Cosgrove, says soldiers
from East Timor's guerrilla independence army,
Falintil, must hand in their weapons.
General Cosgrove says the mandate of the peacekeeping
force is to disarm any East Timorese who are not part
of the Indonesian armed forces. That includes the
guerrilla independence army and their rivals from
anti-independence militia groups.
The re-affirmation of the peacekeepers' mandate comes
after militia leaders, along with Indonesian
government officials and local media, launched a
barrage of criticism against the peacekeepers for
their perceived bias in favor of East Timor's
independence movement.
The Falintil guerrilla army has been fighting for an
independent East Timor ever since Indonesian troops
invaded the territory in 1975.
There are roughly five thousand peacekeepers now in
East Timor as part of an Australian-led international
force that will eventually number eight thousand.
The peacekeeping mission landed in East Timor two
weeks ago to restore order to the territory after
anti-independence militias, backed by the Indonesian
military, swept through the territory on a campaign of
destruction. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of people
are believed to have died. Roughly 300 hundred
thousand others fled their homes or were forced to
leave.
The violence came in response to an announcement by
the United Nations that most East Timorese had voted
for the territory to separate from Indonesia in a U-N-
supervised referendum held in August.
Most U-N personnel were forced to evacuate East Timor
because of the violence.
Falintil guerrillas did not launch attacks against
the militias, but the group is believed to be
sheltering tens of thousands of refugees in camps in
the jungle.
A group of Falintil leaders last week offered to help
the peacekeepers in their efforts to bring stability
to East Timor. The guerrillas say the peacekeepers
pace has been too slow, which has prevented
desperately needed food aid from reaching refugees.
But General Cosgrove said an extremely tense standoff
took place between Falintil guerrillas and
peacekeepers Sunday when a group of British soldiers
asked the rebel unit to disarm.
The guerrillas said they would not disarm unless the
peacekeepers could provide a permanent presence in
their village to protect it against attacks by
militias.
The peacekeepers would not promise to stay and the
rebels kept their weapons. (Signed)
NEB/PN/KL
04-Oct-1999 10:18 AM EDT (04-Oct-1999 1418 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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