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Security Council Weapons Cache Recovered in East Timor Raid,
UN Talks Begin CNN
September 28, 1999
United Nations - International peacekeepers fanned out across East Timor Tuesday as independence leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta prepared for a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan. The pair spent Monday in talks with senior U.N. officials including Louise Frechette, the U.N. deputy secretary-general and will meet Annan in New York on Tuesday.
The United Nations, in a statement, said Gusmao, Ramos-Horta and Frechette had discussed the plight of an estimated 200,000 East Timorese, forced over the border to Indonesian West Timor during the scorched earth campaign of the militia. Gusmao and Horta also discussed a future interim administration that will lead to the independence of East Timor, a former Portuguese colony Indonesia invaded and annexed in 1975-76. U.N. aid agencies went to West Timor over the weekend to discuss their care but the governor of the half-island refused to meet them, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said. In East Timor, the World Food Program was forced to bring in more trucks after most U.N. vehicles were wrecked by the militia, making the distribution of supplies nearly impossible outside of the capital, Eckhard added.
Weapons bust
Meanwhile, Australian troops discovered a large cache of weapons after surprising anti-independence militias operating in an area east of East Timor's capital of Dili. The troops dropped from Blackhawk helicopters into the town of Liquica Monday. About 150 personnel dropped into the devastated coastal town while armored personnel carriers sealed off the roads. About 30 militiamen were seen fleeing into the hills.
Pro-Indonesia militiamen massacred more than 20 people at a Liquica church in April. Witnesses said they threw tear gas canisters into the building and hacked people with machetes as they fled. The militias attempted to burn the weapons but scores were recovered intact by the peacekeeping force. Peacekeepers are securing key areas of East Timor but large slabs of territory remain no-go zones. Militiamen have withdrawn from much of East Timor, but many have massed in the Indonesian territory West Timor, vowing to return.
On Monday, militia leader Eurico Guterres threatened to mobilize against peacekeepers within three weeks unless the force proves its "neutrality." "If within three weeks they cannot stop ... their unfair actions, then I will act," Guterres told West Timor's local newspaper, Surya Timor. "Although the (U.N. forces) have sophisticated weapons, they do not know East Timor as well as the militias. It is not possible for the tanks to go into the jungle."
The raid on the militiamens' camp came as the International Committee of the Red Cross reported 10 mutilated bodies had been found in a well not far from Dili. Thousands of people are believed to have died at the hands of the militias who often operated with the support of the Indonesian military.
Cohen urges military probe
Defense Secretary William Cohen urged Indonesia to conduct a swift investigation of the military's involvement in the terror campaign that has ravaged East Timor. "They should make an inquiry. They should do it as quickly as possible, as thoroughly as possible," Cohen told reporters traveling with him to Asia for talks on East Timor and the Australian-led effort to restore peace there. Cohen said he would not prejudge the outcome but, "It's apparent that there were activities that were taking place in East Timor that are simply unacceptable."
On Monday in Washington, the Senate Foreign Relations committee voted unanimously to send to the Senate floor a bill to cut all assistance to the government of Indonesia until the results of the independence vote in East Timor were implemented. The bill also requires the United States to oppose any loans or assistance from any international institutions to Jakarta. "This legislation is crucial to maintaining pressure on the Indonesian government to live up to the obligation it has made to the people of East Timor and the international peacekeeping force," said Democrat Senator Russ Feingold, the bill's sponsor. The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed the following year in a move never recognized by the United Nations.
More Information on East Timor
