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DATE=9/6/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=TIMOR ATTACK (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-266175
BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN
DATELINE=JAKARTA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
            // RE-ISSUING, CORRECTING FIRST GRAPH OF 
TEXT //
INTRO: In the Indonesian province of West Timor, at 
least three foreign U-N aid workers have been killed 
during an attack by a mob of pro-Jakarta militia 
members on the office of the United Nations High 
Commission for Refugees. As Patricia Nunan reports 
from Jakarta, U-N staffers now say they are 
considering withdrawing all UNHCR workers from the 
province. 
TEXT: U-N officials confirm that hundreds of 
machete-wielding militia members attacked the 
office of the U-N High Commissioner for
Refugees in the city of Atambua, burning it to 
the ground. 
All UNHCR staffers have been evacuated from the 
city near the border with East Timor - which is 
under UN administration as it transitions to 
independence. Officials now say the UNHCR is 
considering withdrawing all its international 
staff from West Timor.
It is the second attack against U-N officials in 
recent weeks. The UNHCR temporarily suspended 
relief operations last month after three members 
of its staff were beaten in an attack by militia-
members. 
Roughly 120-thousand East Timorese refugees are 
living in a handful of camps in West Timor -- an 
Indonesian province. They have been there since 
anti-independence militias virtually destroyed 
neighboring East Timor after its independence 
vote last year. 
Human rights officials say the militias and the 
members of the Indonesian police and military 
that supported them are responsible for the 
deaths of hundreds of people. Aid officials also 
say that intimidation by the militia groups in 
West Timor has prevented some of the East Timor 
refugees from returning home. 
The tense situation in West Timor is a sore point 
between the Indonesian government and the 
international community. The U-S ambassador to 
Indonesia, Robert Gelbard, has repeatedly called 
for Indonesian authorities to launch a sweep 
through West Timor in order to arrest all militia 
leaders. 
Indonesia meanwhile has in the past threatened to 
cut off all financial support to the camps in 
West Timor. (signed)
NEB/HK/PN/GC/JO 
06-Sep-2000 07:29 AM LOC (06-Sep-2000 1129 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.