Precedence: bulk INDONESIAN ARMY FAILED TO STOP TIMOR KILLING SYDNEY, April 17 (Reuters) - An Australian diplomatic report into an alleged massacre in an East Timor village had found Indonesian troops were present but failed to stop the killings, an Australian newspaper reported on Saturday. The Australian newspaper said diplomats in Australia's Jakarta embassy had found that reports of a massacre in the village of Liquisa were plausible, but their report did not use the word massacre. The newspaper said the diplomatic report found that the Indonesian military had colluded with pro-Jakarta militia forces in the lead-up to the attack and were ``present in some numbers'' at the time of the killings. ``Evidence of a direct role by military personnel in the attack... is only circumstantial... but includes gunshot wounds from weapons of a type issued by the military,'' the newspaper said. It said the report ``found enough testimony and evidence of a substantial number of killings to warrant a detailed and impartial investigation.'' East Timor's spiritual leader Bishop Carlos Belo says 25 people were killed in the April 6 attack by the militias, but Indonesia rejected reports of a massacre, saying only five people were killed. A spokesman for Australia's foreign minister told Reuters on Saturday that the report existed, but would not comment on its contents and said it would not be released for fear of endangering contacts in East Timor. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters late on Friday that it had not been possible to determine precisely how many people were killed in Liquisa. ``This report shows that between two and over 40 or so people were killed. We aren't in a position to be able to prove what happened there,'' Downer said. Amnesty International accused the Indonesian military on Friday of destabilising East Timor by allowing pro-Jakarta militias to murder and rape East Timorese. Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year, a move not recognised by the United Nations. East Timorese rebels have waged a 23-year guerrilla war for independence. East Timor has seen an upsurge in violence between pro-Jakarta forces and rebels since January when Indonesia offered East Timor autonomy or independence.*** ---------- SiaR WEBSITE: http://apchr.murdoch.edu.au/minihub/siarlist/maillist.html
