DATE=9/11/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA - MILITIAS (L-O)
NUMBER=2-266352
BYLINE=RON CORBEN
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT=
INTRO: Indonesia says it is strengthening its
security forces in West Timor. Ron Corben reports
from V-O-A's Southeast Asia Bureau the move follows
the killing of three U-N refugee agency workers last
week near the border between East and West Timor.
TEXT: Reacting to international criticism, Indonesia
says it will boost security in West Timor and disarm
the pro-Jakarta gangs blamed for killing three U-N aid
workers last week.
The killings led to intense international pressure on
Jakarta to rein in the militias who have so far
operated with impunity in West Timor. The militias
are accused of preventing the remaining 130-thousand
refugees from returning home to East Timor.
Indonesian national police chief General Rusdihardo
says after security forces in West Timor are
strengthened the militias will be disarmed.
Atambua, in Indonesian West Timor, was the center of
the international relief efforts to assist the East
Timorese living in camps across the border from their
homeland. They fled the former Indonesian-controlled
East Timor when violence erupted a year ago after a U-
N sponsored vote to break from 23-years of Jakarta
rule.
U-N-H-C-R director Francois Fouinard says the
commission will resume work in West Timor only after,
what he termed - very serious changes had occurred,
including re-establishment of the authority of the
government.
Mr. Founinard said the Indonesian government needs to
clamp down on the thousands of pro-Indonesian East
Timorese militia members in the refugee camps. The U-
N-H-C-R has evacuated 400 aid workers from West Timor,
leaving the distribution of food to the camps entirely
up to the Indonesian government.
Indonesian Vice President Megawati Soekarnoputri
promised to dispatch 100-tons of rice to the camps in
West Timor, although it is uncertain who will
distribute the food.
Analysts say the killings indicate how little command
the Indonesian military has over the militias or even
its own troops at a time when the Presidency of
Abdurrahman Wahid is viewed in crisis.
President Wahid expressed regrets over the killings,
saying they were aimed at humiliating him. He has
said little about disarming the gangs.
Meanwhile in Jakarta, the Attorney-General's office is
reported to be ready to summon five-suspects in its
investigation into last year's violence in East Timor.
Reports said five of those being summoned are police
officers. (SIGNED)
NEB/RC/RAE
11-Sep-2000 12:31 PM EDT (11-Sep-2000 1631 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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