Foreign troops land in East Timor

By Lirio da Fonseca

DILI (Reuters) – Australian commandos arrived in chaotic
East Timor on Thursday as raging gunbattles in the capital,
Dili, killed at least three people and forced residents to
huddle in their homes.

About 150 commandos quickly secured the airport in Dili
ahead of the deployment of 1,300 troops to help restore peace
and order after weeks of unrest.

At least three people were killed and many wounded, Arlindo
Marcal, East Timor ambassador in Jakarta, told Reuters.

The fighting stopped after the commandos landed to the
cheers of local residents, Marcal said.

The inexperienced and cash-strapped government of the
world’s newest independent nation has been struggling to cope
with clashes initially sparked by the sacking of around half
the army. At least six people had been killed in Dili before
Thursday.

Witnesses reported widespread shooting in the capital on
Thursday and some buildings had been razed.

“… we are now hiding,” one resident told Reuters. “(There
are) no people walking around in Dili except the military and
also the police.”

FOREIGNERS EVACUATED

“It’s quite clear the situation in Dili has deteriorated
(today),” Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters
in Canberra. “There are widespread reports of a very chaotic
situation.”

Howard said the warship HMAS Adelaide was already in Dili
harbor.

East Timor asked for troops from Australia, New Zealand,
Portugal and Malaysia after a military police unit rebelled and
Dili’s own forces failed to calm the situation.

One of the tasks of the multinational force will be to
evacuate up to 800 Australians in East Timor, along with
hundreds of other foreigners, the Australian Associated Press
said.

The first evacuees — about 55 foreign nationals — were
flown to Darwin in northern Australia on Thursday night. They
were being put up in a military barracks until flights could be
arranged to their home towns in Australia or to their
countries, AAP quoted an Emergency Management Australia
official as saying.

“I think probably in reality what we are really looking for
now is the deployment being able to spread out, particularly
around the Dili area,” Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told
ABC Television.

The Australian soldiers would provide stability so that
“the security forces loyal to the government will be able to
regroup and that the rebels, too, will be able to concentrate
themselves in one area or another, presumably outside of Dili,”
he said.

SERIOUS NEGOTIATIONS

“In the end, what the East Timorese government has to do is
set up and get under way a serious negotiating process to try
to resolve those differences,” Downer added.

Clashes over the past two months have involved gunbattles
and widespread arson, sending thousands to seek safety in the
hills, or at embassies, religious institutions and military
posts.

A leader of the rebel military faction, Major Alfredo
Reinaldo, who was trained in Australia, said he would cooperate
with Australian troops but distrusted the East Timor
government.

The ostensible reason for the unrest is the unhappiness of
sacked soldiers over firings, benefits and discrimination.
Reinaldo said fighting was being driven by loyalties to eastern
and western parts of the country.

Officials say opposition groups have exploited the
situation, sparking attacks and resisting mediation.

UN SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement on
Thursday in Hanoi, where he was visiting, that he was sending a
special envoy to Dili to assess the situation.

Annan had requested urgent U.N. Security Council approval
for international military assistance, but the council put off
action after Russia argued more information was needed,
diplomats said.

Malaysia has postponed its deployment of 500 military and
police personnel. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said it was
seeking clarification about the mission.

Australia led a U.N.-backed intervention force in 1999 to
quell violence after East Timorese voted for independence from
Indonesia. An estimated 1,000 died in that violence, blamed
mostly on pro-Jakarta militia backed by Indonesian military
elements.

Indonesia invaded the territory in 1975 after centuries of
Portuguese control, and in 1976 declared it an Indonesian
province.

East Timor is one of the world’s poorest countries but has
potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves.

(Additional reporting by James Grubel and Michelle Nichols
in Canberra, Achmad Sukarsono and Telly Nathalia in Jakarta,
Grant McCool in Hanoi, and Jalil Hamid in Kuala Lumpur)