DATE=8/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=EAST TIMOR FEARS (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-265390
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Fears of escalating violence in East Timor in
the coming weeks have increased calls for the refugee
camps in West Timor to be closed. Ron Corben reports
from VOA's South East Asia Bureau the fears come as
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan told
Indonesia to stop inflitrating militiamen into East
Timor.
TEXT: United Nations personnel are fearing an
escalation of violence in East Timor as they brace for
a wave of attacks by anti-independence militias ahead
of the first anniversary of the
region's vote for freedom.
Increasing numbers of militias are believed to have
infiltrated into East Timor from the Indonesian side
of West Timor where they
had fled along with tens of thousands of refugees and
pro-Jakarta supporters last year.
But UN personnel on both sides of the border are
threatened. On Friday machete-wielding former
militiamen trapped workers inside a
U.N. High Commission for Refugees building in a West
Timor border town before Indonesian soldiers
intervened.
A day earlier, a Nepalese U-N peacekeeper became the
latest fatality after a gun-battle erupted with a band
of militiamen near the town
of Suai in the south western part of East Timor. A
Timorese civilian was also killed in the battle.
In late July a peacekeeper from New Zealand was killed
during a clash with a militia group.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in a statement,
called on Indonesia to stop militiamen infiltrating
into East Timor.
Mr Annan said Indonesia had to take effective measures
to prevent any infiltration into the now independent
region, set to mark the anniversary of the U-N
sponsored referendum on independence on August 30.
The vote triggered a rampage of violence and anarchy
in the region after two decades of being under
Indonesian control.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab has said the
Indonesian Government was drawing up plans to close
the refugee camps where some
100,000 people still live in squalid conditions after
fleeing from East Timor last year.
But the head of East Timor's temporary U.N.
administration, Sergio Vieira de Mello, pointed out
that closure was not the solution.
Commenting while travelling in the western border
regions of East Timor, Mr de Mello, said the
Indonesian government needed to do more
than offer, what he called, vague statements to close
down the refugee camps.
Mr de Mello said the frequency and intensity of
clashes with the militia groups was increasing and
that, he said, was the worrisome
sign. But he remained optimistic the situation could
be contained. (Signed)
NEB/RC/PLM
12-Aug-2000 08:08 AM EDT (12-Aug-2000 1208 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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