Subject: SMH: Guerillas demand clamp on army
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 1999 08:42:26 +0000
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Sydney Morning Herald 21/06/99
THE MILITARY
Guerillas demand clamp on army
By MARK DODD Herald Correspondent in Dili
A senior leader of the East Timorese independence movement has called for Indonesian
soldiers to be restricted to specific locations as a precondition to separatist fighters
giving up their arms.
Restricting troops to specific locations has been tried with mixed success on other
United Nations-brokered peacekeeping missions.
The independence leader David Ximenes, in hiding in Dili, said it was a mistake to
compare Falintil guerillas with pro-Jakarta militias.
"Disarmament is for the militias because the militias were armed by the
military," he said.
"Falintil cannot be disarmed because Falintil is a consequence of the Indonesian
Army being here." If Indonesian troops were restricted to specific locations,
Falintil would disarm, he said.
Defence analysts estimate Falintil's armed strength to be no more than 1,000 fighters
carrying 1970s-vintage NATO assault rifles and Indonesian-made light automatic weapons
captured during ambushes and raids on army posts.
East Timor's rival factions signed an agreement late on Friday for an end to violence
ahead of a planned August referendum on self-determination for this violence-prone
half-island territory of 850,000 people.
Like a similar agreement brokered by Indonesia's Defence Minister, General Wiranto,
last April, the latest accord did not specify a timetable for a ceasefire or disarmament.
The joint accord was signed by the East Timorese independence leader Xanana Gusmao,
serving a 20-year sentence but recently released into house arrest in Jakarta. Others
included Leandro Isaac, leader of a pro-independence umbrella group; pro-Jakarta militia
leader Joao Tavares, and Domingos Soares, a local government leader opposed to
independence.
In 1992 in Cambodia, restricting troops to specific locations was a partial success
until the hardline Khmer Rouge guerilla faction rejected the peace agreement it had
earlier signed.
Pro-royalist forces and troops under the command of Vietnamese-installed premier Hun
Sen, quickly disengaged from their areas when Khmer Rouge rebels went back on the
offensive. Despite the vague wording of the communiqué, the UN Assistance Mission to East
Timor, anxious to hear some good news for a change, welcomed the agreement and hoped it
might bring a measure of stability.
"It's a positive first step and a good development. We're aware a great deal of
work needs to be done to bring it to fruition and much co-operation and goodwill needs to
be shown by both sides. And we hope it translates into peace and stability on the
ground," spokesman Mr David Wimhurst said.
Mr Wimhurst has confirmed UN teams are investigating the shooting deaths on Friday of
two men in Maubara, 40 kilometres west of Dili. One woman was seriously injured in the
attack.
It is believed all three were pro-independence supporters acting with militia support.
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