DATE=10/12/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AUSTRALIA - INDONESIA (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254896
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=DILI
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Australian and Indonesian governments are
continuing to trade charges over Sunday's clash along
the border dividing East and West Timor. The
Indonesian army commander General Wiranto visited the
site of the clash Tuesday. As V-O-A correspondent
Gary Thomas reports from East Timor, the peacekeepers
deny Indonesian charges that they crossed the boarders
into East Timor.
TEXT: Officials of the International Force for East
Timor or INTERFET say they are looking favorably on an
Indonesian request for a joint investigation into
Sunday's clash along the East Timor border.
Australian peacekeepers patrolling along the border
were attacked and returned fire injuring at least two
of the pro-Jakarta militia opposed to East Timor's
pending separation for Indonesia.
INTERFET says Indonesian troops and police were
accompanying the attacking militia and may have
participated directly in the attack. There are also
reports an Indonesian policeman was killed.
Indonesia accuses the peacekeepers of crossing into
West Timor and calls the incident provocative.
INTERFET spokesman Colonel Mark Kelly continues to
deny the Indonesian charge.
//Mark Kelly act//
There is certainly from the Indonesian side some
conflicting reports. However the evidence that is
available to us concerns the incident occurred in
East Timor. The shots were fired at the INTERFET
soldiers and reaction with restraint as you saw in the
footage available to you on the day of the incident.
The evidence shows the INTERFET soldiers operated
within their rules of engagement.
//end act//
The skirmish may have arisen because the Indonesians
and Australians were using different maps of the same
border area.
The incident has strained the already frosty
relationship between Jakarta and Canberra. Australia
is calling for urgent talks on the matter. Colonel
Kelly says it has also severely tested the
relationship between the peacekeepers and the
gradually departing Indonesian army.
// Kelly act//
Clearly this is an incident that has tested that
relationship and that cooperation and the discussions
over the last 48 hours have been favorable. And we
are obviously putting our hand out to offer with this
joint investigation.
// End Act//
Colonel Kelly says ways of preventing such future
incidents are being discussed. Among the ideas under
review is creation of a buffer zone between East and
West Timor and improved communication between INTERFET
and Indonesian troops.
Australia and New Zealand are spearheading the
International Force to Restore Order in East Timor.
The pro-Jakarta militias, which received support from
the Indonesian Army, went on a rampage following the
August 30th referendum in which some 85 percent of
East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia.
(signed)
NEB/GT /PLM
12-Oct-1999 05:27 AM EDT (12-Oct-1999 0927 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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