> >East Timor May Ask Foreign Troops to Stay > >August 29, 2000 >Filed at 11:16 p.m. ET > >By Reuters > > > >DILI, East Timor (Reuters) - An independent East Timor will ask >foreign troops to stay on after the United Nations pulls out if >Indonesia does not rein in violent militias, a senior East Timorese >official said on Wednesday. > >Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta said the international >community had an obligation to help protect East Timor as long as >pro-Jakarta militias based in Indonesian West Timor posed a threat. > > >There has been an upsurge in militia activity ahead of Wednesday's >first anniversary of a U.N.-brokered ballot that saw the eastern >half of Timor island vote to split from Indonesia after more than >23 years of often brutal rule. > >Pro-Jakarta militias rampaged after the vote, killing hundreds, >leaving much of East Timor in ruins and forcing thousands to flee >to refugee camps in West Timor. > >The congress of the main East Timor pro-independence group, the >National Council of Timorese Resistance, voted late on Tuesday to >seek a continued foreign military presence after the U.N. withdraws >following elections due by the end of 2001. > >``So long as we have (the militias) it is (an) obligation of the >international community to face the challenge, the threat by >keeping in East Timor a number of battalions beyond independence,'' >Ramos-Horta said. > >The militias, who recently killed two U.N. peacekeepers, operate >from refugee camps in West Timor, where Indonesian troops and >police have failed to halt their activities. > >Ramos-Horta said he had received a copy of a letter from President >Clinton to Indonesian leader Abdurrahman Wahid accusing the >Indonesian military of involvement. > >``I have a letter from President Clinton addressed to (Wahid) -- >where President Clinton himself accused former and even active >members of Kopassus special forces of continuing to support the >militias,'' Ramos-Horta said. > >The head of the United Nations transitional authority in East >Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello, told reporters on Tuesday that he >expected such a request would be approved if the militias continued >to pose a threat. > >Australia and New Zealand would most likely provide the bulk of any >force, which would be smaller than the almost 8,000-strong U.N. >peacekeeping contingent and based largely around the border with >West Timor. > > > >The New York Times on the Web >http://www.nytimes.com > _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
