Gang, Indonesia-can it be held together? You look at Foreign Minister Ali Alatas' bizarre comments in this article about the East Timor situation and you wonder- are the leaders of Indonesia really aware of what's going on out there and can they control the accelerating centrifugal forces in the Country?
About three months ago on the other far end of Indonesia, my friends were drilling an onshore well in Sumatra, in the area of Aceh where the Achenese rebels are active also seeking independence.
A large demonstration of Achenese passed the rig carrying banners and flags- the rig crew waived while the demonstration headed into the nearby village. At the same time an Indonesian military helicopter had been circling watching the goings on.
Shortly thereafter,the gunship swooped in on the village and literally shot the end of the village nearest the rig to pieces. The crew then abandoned the rig and high-tailed it out of there. Nothing was ever said on the news anywhere about the event but many must have been killed or wounded...
IMO Indonesia is racked with problems/violence, etc., yet Mssr Habibie and his in-office cronies like Ali Alatas seem more suited to be attending the Mad Hatter's Teaparty al a Alice in Wonderland than in handling the situation. You seriously have to wonder what will happen to Indonesian oil & gas production over the next few years....
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(Begin Article)
U.N. team ordered to Indonesia, East Timor crisis escalates
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In this story:
Mob rule
Police standby amid violence
Jakarta denies that militias are armed
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From staff and wire reports
DILI, East Timor (CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council has ordered an emergency diplomatic team to Jakarta in a bid to quell the violence that has wracked East Timor in the wake of a ballot on independence.
Amid accusations that Indonesia has done nothing to stop the rampaging pro-Jakarta militias that have forced thousands to flee, the U.N. mission will bring pressure to bear on the Indonesian government.
Security Council president, Peter van Walsum of the Netherlands, said the delegation would be made up of "no more than five" diplomats.
"The mission will discuss with the government of Indonesia concrete steps to allow the implementation of the ballot results," he told reporters after emergency closed-door consultations.
The move came as up to 150 United Nations personnel were evacuated from East Timor Monday morning.
No date was given for the mission, but council members said they hoped it would leave Tuesday. The composition of the mission is not yet set either.
Van Walsum said Indonesian authorities had welcomed the mission. The country's U.N. envoys contacted Jakarta during the council meeting.
But East Timorese Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta said the time for talk was over.
"There have been too many promises, assurances from Indonesia that have been all broken," Ramos Horta said.
Ramos Horta blames the Indonesian military for the ongoing violence in East Timor and has called on the U.N. to establish an armed force in the territory ÿ
He called for "a peace enforcement mission" to be dispatched by the U.N.
Mass evacuations were underway in East Timor on Monday as the territory was plunged deeper into a mire of violence that threatens the continued U.N. presence in the half-island territory.
The Australian military has moved transport aircraft into position to begin shuttling non-essential personnel back to a base at Darwin in northern Australia.
Pro-independence sources said at least 100 East Timorese were killed in two days of bloody unrest since Saturday's announcement that a U.N.-organized ballot on August 30 had recorded a 78.5 percent vote in favor of the territory's independence from Indonesia.
The U.N. supervised ballot came after 24 years of contested Indonesian rule.
Tens of thousands of people have already fled East Timor and neighboring countries and islands are preparing to deal with a massive refugee crisis that could see up to 100,000 people flee the territory.
An Australian defense official confirmed an evacuation plan had been launched.
"The numbers are not exactly set because we don't know exactly how many other Australian nationals may wish to come forward and travel back to Darwin," said Lieutenant-Colonel David Tyler.
Tyler said the Australian defense force would make several sorties into the East Timor capital Dili using C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
"Indonesia has agreed to provide security...they are responsible for security on the ground," Tyler said.
Mob rule
East Timor's dream of independence faded in the early hours of Monday morning as pro-Indonesia militias swept through the streets of the provincial capital Dili, unchallenged by Indonesian authorities.
Witnesses said the militias had attacked the home of Nobel peace laureate and Roman Catholic Bishop Carlos Belo. No further details on the attack were available, but observers said the militias torched the Catholic diocese office as well.
There was also a report of a grenade being detonated outside the U.N. compound.
One western diplomat called the scene "organized anarchy" as frightened East Timorese tried to flee the bloodied island. Hundreds took refuge at Dili's U.N. compound and the Australian consulate -- the only two places deemed safe from the rampaging militias -- and thousands more sought shelter in other less secure buildings.
But the safety of those havens was uncertain as the militia reacted violently to the mostly Roman Catholic territory's overwhelming vote to seek independence from majority-Islamic Indonesia.
"There has been a lot of gunfire very close to our headquarters this afternoon," U.N. spokesman David Wimhurst said.
Journalists, U.N. staff and East Timorese rushed to evacuate the island Sunday. The militias had shut down East Timor's ports Sunday afternoon, preventing at least two ships from docking to take refugees on board: Rumors flew that they would close the territory's airport Monday.
A team of Indonesian ministers flew into Dili earlier Sunday to hold talks on the increasingly chaotic situation in the former Portuguese colony. Indonesia's military chief, Gen. Wiranto, held talks with military leaders while Foreign Minister Ali Alatas told U.N. commissioners that the violence stemmed from complaints that last week's referendum was unfair.
"Alatas said the reason all this violence is taking place is because everybody is so upset about the electoral process," Wimhurst said.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard leveled the blame at Indonesia's military.
"There is no doubt in the world Indonesia is not fulfilling its obligations to maintain law and order (in East Timor)," said Howard.
"There can be no excuse for the Indonesian army turning a blind eye to what is occurring. The best will in the world can not overlook or excuse the fact that since Saturday morning things have been allowed to get out of control," Howard said.
The U.N. mission in East Timor, which conducted the referendum, agreed to hold a news conference Monday in Jakarta to address the complaints.
Wimhurst also said that international calls for a peacekeeping force to halt the violence were impractical. The Indonesian authorities, he said, must take action immediately to end the violence.
Police stand by amid violence
Indonesia has thousands of soldiers and police in East Timor, but they have been accused of arming the militias ÿ
Indonesian Army and police units were scattered through Dili, but they did not challenge the militiamen, who carried homemade guns, machetes and military weapons. Many areas were largely deserted, and several major buildings in Dili were ablaze.
About 25,000 refugees had taken shelter at churches, a key police station and other locations. Many more had taken to the surrounding hills to escape the militias.
Gunshots were heard throughout the night, and sources in Dili said attacks were still going on in some parts of the town Sunday. The number of casualties from the shootings was unknown, though a spokesman for pro-independence forces said a dozen people had been killed in Dili's turbulent Becora district. That information could not be immediately confirmed.
Portugal's representative to Jakarta, Ana Gomes, said she had been told more than 100 people were dead.
"(The militias) want the observers, the journalists and (the United Nations) to abandon East Timor to massacre the East Timorese people," Gomes said.
Jakarta denies that militias are armed
But an Indonesian military intelligence officer said he had not received any reports of fresh casualties, and the armed forces' chief spokesman denied that the militias were armed.
"There is no report that the militia are carrying guns and walking on the street," Brig. Gen. Sudradjat, the chief spokesman for the armed forces, told The Associated Press in Jakarta.
Indonesian authorities appeared to be ignoring the violence, refusing to acknowledge international media reports, videotapes and photographs of armed militia roaming the streets of Dili.
Indonesia has thousands of soldiers and police in East Timor, but they have generally stood by as militias attacked their rivals -- and increasingly, the unarmed U.N. mission. The security forces have been accused of arming and backing the militias. They deny the allegations. |
