DATE=2/23/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INTERFET DEPARTS EAST TIMOR / L
NUMBER=2-259469
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The international peacekeeping force in
East Timor has lowered its flag for the last
time, handing over jurisdiction in the territory
to the United Nations. As Patricia Nunan reports
from Jakarta, leaders of the Australian-led
multinational force have proclaimed the
peacekeepers' mission in East Timor a success.
TEXT: Australian Major General Peter Cosgrove stood at
attention as military policemen lowered the flag of
INTERFET -- the International Peacekeeping Force in
East Timor -- outside the peacekeepers'
headquarters in the capital Dili. The green
flag, adorned with the emblem of a dove flying
over a map of East Timor, was first raised in the
territory last September.
The multi-national peacekeeping force was
deployed in response to a wave of bloodshed
fomented by anti-independence militia groups.
The militias launched a campaign of destruction,
killing hundreds of people and leaving much of
East Timor in ruin. More than 100 thousand
refugees who fled the violence have still not
been able to return home from refugee camps in
neighboring West Timor.
Australia was one of the nations to exert the
most pressure on Indonesia to accept foreign
peacekeepers when East Timor descended into
chaos.
General Cosgrove, who officially accepted the
INTERFET flag, has described the five-month
mission as "the most complex, challenging and
successful" missions Australia has ever
undertaken.
Despite a number of skirmishes, no international
peacekeepers were killed in action. The only two
INTERFET deaths were the result of a car accident
and a tropical illness.
With the departure of INTERFET, East Timor will
be wholly governed by the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor --
called UNTAET. Its mandate is to help East
Timorese leaders write a Constitution and develop
effective government institutions over the next
two years.
The U-N mission will consist of peacekeepers from
23 different nations, totaling about nine
thousand troops. Eighty percent of those troops
will be former INTERFET forces. The mission will
be commanded by Lt. General Jaime de los Santos,
of the Philippines.
NEB/PN/FC
23-Feb-2000 01:27 AM EDT (23-Feb-2000 0627 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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