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| Southeast Asia |
| Indonesia flexes muscles |
| 2004-01-11 |
| IN a dramatic show of military muscle, an Indonesian warship has blasted a contested island near East Timor with naval gunfire and a missile just weeks after peacekeepers left the area. A UN military report dated December 14, 2003, obtained by The Daily Telegraph, says a camouflaged helicopter bearing Indonesian markings fired a missile into the disputed outcrop, known locally as Fatu Sinai, before a warship pounded the tiny uninhabited island with heavy gunfire. The classified report compiled by UN military observers said the shelling was witnessed by more than 150 terrified East Timorese villagers. They live in Baoknana village on the Oecussi enclave, a pocket of East Timorese territory on the north coast of Indonesian West Timor. Security analysts said the show of force marked Jakarta’s determination to stamp its sovereignty on the disputed island which it calls Pulau Batek. The outcrop lies just 5km off East Timor’s coastline at the western tip of the enclave. Since September 2000, the UN and East Timor Government have been negotiating with Indonesia over matters relating to border demarcation. "The Indonesian side has not fulfilled any of its commitments and within 60 days of the withdrawal of UN troops the Indonesian military flexed its muscles with this display," a senior UN security analyst familiar with Oecussi said. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the Government was aware of the incident, but regarded it as a matter between Indonesia and East Timor. "We are pleased that the unresolved issues are being handled in constructive discussions between the two countries concerned," the spokesman said. Indonesia and East Timor are discussing land border issues, but maritime borders have not been raised. The December incident underscores the vulnerability of East Timor’s ill-defined maritime borders. East Timor seceded from Indonesia after a bloody UN-brokered ballot in 1999 that saw a massive majority of the population vote in favour of independence. The brash display of gunboat diplomacy raises fresh concerns over the timing of a planned withdrawal of Australian peacekeepers maintaining security along East Timor’s main frontier with Indonesia. East Timorese eyewitnesses interviewed by UN observers said that about midday on December 14 an Indonesian warship carrying a camouflaged helicopter approached the island stopping within 100m of its southern tip. The helicopter then took off and the warship withdrew to a new position facing the island, but about 200m offshore. The helicopter then fired what is believed to be a missile that exploded on impact creating a pall of smoke. The warship, accompanied by a small patrol vessel, then sailed to within 400m northeast of the outcrop. From its new position it fired 13 rounds of high explosives from what the UN later said was a 40mm cannon. Two hours later an Indonesian jet fighter, believed to be a US-built F-16, flew over the island at an altitude of only 200m. Eye witnesses said that during the two hour incident the people of Baoknana were terrified with some fleeing into the hills. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 What's wrong with oppressing Christians? I say feed them to the lions! Oops.... sorry I was channelling U.N. President Kofi ...(oh yuck!). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-1-11 4:04:07 PM |
| #2 When the West tries to find Islamic states that are reasonable and we can deal with. Its just relative. They are all nasty and its just a matter of degree. Were it my decision I would separate all the Christian majority areas at independence from both Indonesia and Malaysia. Of course these people don't have the media machine behind them like the paleos, even though their case is at least as good. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-1-11 3:15:49 PM |
| #1 the fabled U.N did alot about it i see ,apart from keeping it a secret and writing up a few notes on it.Just what you'd have expected of this pathetic organization.Sorry just letting off some steam about the U.N - there almost up there with the red cross in my book of useless money grabbing organistaions. |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-1-11 3:14:07 PM |