| Subject: AAP: Australian Aid workers pulled out of
south ET Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 10:38:13 -0500 From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org> Australian aid workers pulled out of East Timor By Karen Polglaze, South-East Asia Correspondent JAKARTA, Jan 26 AAP - Australian aid workers have been pulled out of southern East Timor as the latest outbreak of violence there reportedly claimed four lives. Paramilitary groups armed by the Indonesian military have been accused of using terror tactics to intimidate people in incidents across the disputed territory, forcing hundreds of scared citizens to seek refuge in the capital, Dili. The latest violence has been reported from the town of Suai, about 100km south-west of the capital, where two Australians were working on a water project. The Dili-based leaders of the project decided that it would be prudent for the two workers to return to the capital after days of unrest and fighting, according to a spokesman from AusAID. "They made a decision that it was better, because of recent events, that they be pulled back to Dili," the spokesman told AAP. A third aid worker, based in Maliana about 40km directly north of Suai, was also returning to Dili, the spokesman said. Meanwhile, Indonesian authorities have blocked Australian opposition foreign affairs spokesman Laurie Brereton from visiting the former Portuguese colony, with Ambassador to Australia Wiryono saying any trip should be postponed due to the "unruly behaviour of the pro-referendum elements". But groups in Dili say the fighting is being caused by the intimidatory tactics of the militia who, armed by the Indonesian military with guns, have been moving through the region for months killing, burning and destroying property. They were being used to create the impression that the annexed province was wracked by civil war, said National Council of the Timorese Resistance (CNRT) spokesman John Alvis. Alvis said reports from Suai indicated four people, including a pregnant woman, had been shot dead by the militia. "They intend to make the situation like that, they intend to make intimidation and terror," Alvis told AAP by phone from Dili. "They also make it as if there is a civil war." Alvis said the dead had been buried by the militia with their heads still visible above the ground. "The pastor wanted to bury them properly, but he was not allowed by the militia," Alvis said. Reports of terror tactics used by the locally-recruited militia are coming out of East Timor with increasing frequency. Dili spokesman for rights group Yayasan Hak, Aniceto Guterres Lopes, said the latest round of violence began in July when Indonesia began a much-publicised withdrawal of combat troops from the province it invaded in 1975 and formally annexed in 1976. He cited a series of incidents occuring in recent months in Same, Bobonaro, Alas and Balibo. "Since December, the situation is very precarious because of the existence of the militia," Guterres Lopes told AAP. He estimated the number of refugees in Dili at around 700 while Alvis thought there might be up to 1,000. The heightened tension occurs on the eve of the resumption of United Nations-sponsored talks between Indonesia and Portugal on the future of the province which the UN does not recognise as being part of Indonesia. At the same time, Indonesia is considering a suggestion from UN secretary-general Kofi Annan to place jailed resistance leader and CNRT president Jose Xanana Gusmao under house arrest. Foreign Minister Ali Alatas says that while there is no legal way for a jailed criminal to be released to house arrest, the idea is nevertheless being considered by the Indonesian Cabinet. Gusmao is serving a 20-year sentence for convictions on arms possession and other crimes related to the armed struggle for independence in East Timor. Back to January Menu |