Agence France Presse August 11, 2000, Friday

Annan tells Indonesia to halt infiltrations to East Timor UNITED NATIONS, Aug 11

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told Indonesia on Friday to stop militiamen infiltrating into East Timor after a Nepalese United Nations peacekeeper was killed in a firefight there.

In a statement through his spokesman, Annan said he was "concerned over the increase in activities by armed personnel" in parts of the territory close to the Indonesian province of West Timor.

He expressed his condolences to Nepal and to the family of Private Devi Ram Yaishi, who died of gunshot wounds on Thursday after a skirmish with militiamen in the border district of Suai earlier in the day.

Spokesman Manoel De Almeida e Silva said Annan "expects the government of Indonesia to take effective measures to prevent any infiltration into East Timor. "

In a similar statement, the Security Council called on Indonesia to prevent cross-border incursions and "to disarm and disband the militias and bring to justice those militia members guilty of crimes.

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UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told Indonesia on Friday to stop militiamen infiltrating into East Timor after a Nepalese United Nations peacekeeper was killed in a firefight there.

In a statement through his spokesman, Annan said he was "concerned over the increase in activities by armed personnel" in parts of the territory close to the Indonesian province of West Timor.

He expressed his condolences to Nepal and to the family of Private Devi Ram Yaishi, who died of gunshot wounds on Thursday after a skirmish with militiamen in the border district of Suai earlier in the day.

Spokesman Manoel De Almeida e Silva said Annan "expects the government of Indonesia to take effective measures to prevent any infiltration into East Timor. "

In a similar statement, the Security Council called on Indonesia to prevent cross-border incursions and "to disarm and disband the militias and bring to justice those militia members guilty of crimes.

The head of the UN Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), Sergio Vieira de Mello said Friday "it seems that there are a few groups of fairly well-trained and well-coordinated militia" in the territory.

In a statement in Dili, the capital of East Timor, he said the militia were operating in Suai and Covalima districts and had possibly also entered Ainaro district.

Vieira de Mello had earlier visited Suai with the commander of the UN peacekeeping force, Lieutenant-General Boonsrang Nuimpradit, before attending a memorial service for Private Yaishi at Dili airport.

The soldier's body was then flown to Darwin, northern Australia, en route for Nepal.

Two other Nepalese soldiers and a civilian, who was an innocent bystander, were in stable condition after surgery for wounds received in the skirmish, UNTAET said in a statement.

A fourth soldier who was slightly hurt had returned to his unit, it said.

Vieira de Mello said UNTAET had been asking the Indonesian government since October to identify -- "and that is not difficult" he said -- "disarm and detain those extremist elements" inside refugee camps in West Timor.

He said Indonesia should also isolate "political extremist leaders who continue to influence the population and feed them with disinformation and lies about the situation in East Timor. "

The refugees fled or were forced across the border at gunpoint during the mayhem which followed a four-to-one vote in favour of independence in a referendum in East Timor organised by the United Nations on August 30 last year.

Latest UN estimates say that between 85,000 and 120,000 refugees remain in camps in West Timor, while more than 167,000 have returned to East Timor.

Last week, the Security Council said that intimidation of UN officials in the camps was so severe, they had indefinitely postponed the task of registering people to see whether they wished to return to East Timor or be resettled.

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