East Timor fighting eases

By Lirio da Fonseca

DILI (Reuters) – Fierce fighting in East Timor eased as
Australian commandos secured the main airport in the young
nation ahead of the arrival of hundreds more troops on Friday,
Australian Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said.

Fighting, sparked by the East Timorese government’s
decision to sack almost half the country’s military after they
went on strike to protest poor conditions, worsened on Thursday
when at least nine people were killed and 27 wounded.

The deaths came when army elements attacked the Dili police
headquarters and, after a negotiated ceasefire, opened fire on
unarmed police being escorted out, a U.N. spokesman said.

At least six people had been killed in the East Timorese
capital Dili before Thursday after protests by the sacked
military policemen late last month spiraled into violent
clashes with government troops.

“With the 220 or so soldiers we already have on the ground
a significant degree of stability has come to East Timor and
Dili overnight. Over the next 24 to 48 hours you will see the
remainder of the 1,300 troops being deployed roll out,” Nelson
told Australian radio on Friday.

“I fully anticipate that will have a calming effect … but
in the end if we do see people who are not responding to lawful
requests from Australian Defense Force personnel we will use
whatever level of force is required to see that they are
disarmed and do not threaten the life and safety of innocent
people.”

Nelson said the rules of engagement for the mission were
agreed with the East Timorese government overnight.

ANNAN SENDING ENVOY

East Timor, which shares a land border with Indonesia’s
West Timor, became the world’s newest nation in 2002 after a
bloody 1999 vote to break free from nearly 25 years of
Indonesian rule.

East Timor, which is one of the world’s poorest countries
but has potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves, requested
international help to quell the violence on Wednesday.

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

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

Australia is sending 1,300 troops into Dili and New Zealand
is sending two military aircraft and some troops to the
northern city of Darwin to assist with evacuations and troops
transport.

Portugal has said it will send 120 military police to help
in the security effort. 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 force in 1999 to quell violence
after East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. An
estimated 1,000 people died in that violence, blamed mostly on
pro-Jakarta militia backed by Indonesian military elements.

U.N. peacekeepers left a year ago and the U.N. mission of
130 administrators, police and military advisers was scheduled
to finish in East Timor on May 20, but its term was extended
for a month after the recent riots.