Military

DATE=10/25/00

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=TIMOR VIOLENCE L ONLY

NUMBER=2-268403

BYLINE=PATRICIA NUNAN

DATELINE=JAKARTA

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: UN peacekeepers in East Timor have killed at least one anti-independence militiaman in two gun battles late Tuesday. As Patricia

Nunan reports from Jakarta, the incident comes amid continued concern about the role of Indonesian-based militia groups opposed to East Timor's independence.

TEXT: A spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force in East Timor says that three militiamen approached a group of New Zealand peacekeepers

late Tuesday, outside the border town of Suai. Officials say that the armed men were moving in a manner that suggested an "aggressive intent."

The peacekeepers opened fire on the three when they were within 10 meters of their position.

Hours later - approaching midnight local-time - a second shoot-out took place.

At dawn, the peacekeepers found the body of the dead militiaman. UN officials say they will continue to search for the other two involved in the incident.

The border town of Suai, roughly 60 kilometers southwest of the East Timorese capital Dili, has been the site of numerous exchanges between UN

peacekeepers and militia groups, which now operate out of the Indonesian province of West Timor.

Peacekeepers have killed at least a half dozen militiamen and two peacekeepers have died in the past year. The UN deployed troops to East Timor in September 1999, in response to the humanitarian crisis brought on by militia violence.

Hundreds of people died following after East Timor's vote to separate from Indonesia.

Hundreds of thousands of others fled their homes.

The government of Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid came under a barrage of criticism for failing to do more to rein in the militias after the murder of three UN aid workers in the West Timor town of Atambua last month.

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The United Nations withdrew its staff from the province in response to the killings - leaving more than 100 thousand East Timorese refugees sheltering in camps without any humanitarian assistance. (signed)

NEB/HK/PN/JO