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| Southeast Asia |
| E Timor border at 'flashpoint' |
| 2005-10-19 |
| A MOB backed by Indonesian troops has crossed into East Timor, attacked a border patrol and set fire to buildings, threatening the fragile peace between the two nations. The incident on Saturday in the Oecussi enclave, detailed in an United Nations cable seen by The Australian, poses a nightmare scenario for Canberra. The cable - sent on Monday by UN chief in East Timor Sukehir Hasegawa to head of peacekeeping operations Jean Marie Guehenno in New York - accuses the Indonesian military (TNI) of provoking multiple border violations in Oecussi. Mr Hasegawa warns Dili has threatened to pull out of the East Timor-Indonesia Truth and Friendship Commission, following the collapse of tense border talks because of Jakarta's failure to stop incursions by the feared "Okto" militia, which started at the beginning of the month. He expressed grave concern at the prospects of an escalation in violence after the breakdown in the talks aimed at securing an agreement on a border demarkation for the enclave. On Saturday two East Timorese police were wounded and forced to fire 15 warning shots after they were attacked by a mob of 200 Indonesian villagers armed with stones and improvised weapons, who had advanced almost 1km across the border from Manusasi. "Seven TNI soldiers were seen at the rear of the group, clearly condoning, if not encouraging, this action," he says. Mr Hasegawa says he received a telephone call from East Timorese Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta threatening to pull out of the CTF. "Horta did not hide his anger as he found arrogance and intransigence in the behaviour of some TNI elements and inability of the government to control them." Opposed by the Catholic church and unpopular with the East Timorese populace, the CTF commits the two countries to co-operate in the investigation of the mayhem before and after the 1999 UN-backed independence referendum. Diplomatic sources told The Australian if Dili withdrew from the TCF, relations between East Timor and Indonesia could plunge into crisis. Mr Hasegawa warns the border is at flashpoint, saying Jakarta has deployed the notorious Battalion 745 - implicated in the 1999 murder of church workers and Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes - on garrison duty along the West Timor frontier. The Australian yesterday reported on a cable sent by Mr Hasegawa last Wednesday in which he reports violent border incursions on October 4 and 9 by the "Okto" militia. This is most likely the militia led by Moko Soares, who took part in the massacre of 47 East Timorese men at Passabe in 1999 and is believed responsible for several gun battles with Australian peacekeepers in Oecussi. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 When will we wake up and realize we can't trust islamic nations?. Next time they cross the border fry a major Indo city. In their eyes it's allens will after all. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-10-19 21:55 |
| #2 Seems to me the Indonesian government is not only failing to control its domestic terrorists, but also encouraging attacks on neighbors. Why do we treat them as if they're as legitimate a government as our own? |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-10-19 21:50 |
| #1 we need to back the Aussies here just as they backed us elsewhere. It will come down to fighting, and the muslims of Indonesia will stomp their feet, threaten to seethe....sobeit |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-10-19 21:06 |