DATE=7/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA / PEACEKEEPER KILLED (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-264745
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A firefight in East Timor, between United
Nations peacekeepers and suspected members of a pro-
Indonesia militia group, has killed a young soldier
from New Zealand. As Patricia Nunan reports from
Jakarta, the victim was the first combat fatality on
the U-N side since international troops landed in East
Timor last September.
TEXT: U-N officials say the 24-year-old soldier from
New Zealand died (Monday) during a gunfight between
peacekeepers and suspected militia-members near the
town of Suai, roughly 100 kilometers southwest of the
East Timorese capital, Dili. A patrol of peacekeepers
had been dispatched to the area, near the border with
West Timor, after residents reported seeing a group of
armed men in the vicinity.
The clash occurred just two kilometers from the border
with West Timor. U-N officials say they believe the
armed men, suspected members of a pro-Indonesia
militia group, may have fled across the border after
the gunfight. Peacekeepers continue to patrol the
area.
The incident marks the first fatality of a peacekeeper
since international troops arrived in East Timor last
September. An international force was deployed in
response to days of bloodshed by pro-Indonesia militia
groups, which killed hundreds of people and forced
hundreds of thousands to flee. The militias were
reacting to the news that the majority of East
Timorese had voted for the territory's independence,
after 24 years of Indonesian rule.
The Indonesian government is now investigating
allegations by human-rights groups that high-ranking
members of the Indonesian military orchestrated the
militia violence.
Sporadic clashes have broken out between militia-
members and peacekeepers along the border between East
Timor and the Indonesian province of West Timor.
(Signed)
NEB/MPN/WTW
24-Jul-2000 12:48 PM EDT (24-Jul-2000 1648 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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