U.N. hits Jakarta over fresh militia rampage

September 25, 2000
Web posted at: 7:36 PM HKT (1136 GMT)

DILI, East Timor (Reuters) -- The head of the U.N. mission in East Timor on Monday branded Indonesian attempts to disarm pro-Jakarta militias as "pathetic" after two U.N. observers fled a militia riot at a West Timor police station.

Indonesia's top security minister, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said on Monday the East Timorese militias terrorizing West Timor have until Wednesday to give up their guns or police and soldiers would take them by force.

But U.N. mission chief Sergio Vieira de Mello told reporters in Dili Sunday's riot after a weapons handover in the West Timor town of Atambua attended by Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri proved only tough action would work against the militias.

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"I personally never took the... persuasive phase seriously," he said. "I do not believe that the militia will voluntarily surrender their weapons -- and if they did, they would probably surrender the old rotten ones and keep the modern ones.

"What happened yesterday was pretty pathetic but not a surprise."

U.N. pair forced to flee

Rampaging militiamen slaughtered three foreign U.N. aid workers in Atambua three weeks ago, outraging the international community and stoking demands for Indonesia to disarm and disband the gangs.

Vieira de Mello said the U.N. observers fled to East Timor under heavy Indonesian military escort after followers of notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres rioted at the handover at the Atambua police station, many taking their weapons back.

The police did nothing to stop the rioting, but locked the U.N. pair in a room inside the station for their own protection.

Guterres, who holds a key security position with Megawati's own party, abused police and kicked over chairs and furniture after being told Megawati and senior government officials had left without meeting him.

Several of his supporters made threats to the police about the safety of the two U.N. observers.

"The mere fact that despite the presence of Vice-President Megawati in town, of the coordinating minister for security and political affairs (Yudhoyono) and senior TNI (military) and POLRI (police) officials, Mr Guterres could perform in his usual manner at the very headquarters of the Indonesian police in Atambua casts doubt on the ability of the Indonesian authorities to bring the militia under control," Vieira de Mello said.

Indonesia's plan is to persuade the militias to give up their weapons, followed by what it calls a "repressive" phase of enforcement from Thursday.

"After that, any possession of weapons will face legal sanctions," Yudhoyono said, adding security forces would begin seizing weapons on Thursday.

Some East Timorese militiamen have started handing over weapons, in a move Jakarta hopes will help calm international anger over the murder of the U.N. aid workers.

The United Nations Security Council has demanded the militias be disarmed and disbanded and the United States has warned desperately needed aid could be at risk if Indonesia's wayward military did not bring the gangs under control.

Vieira de Mello said the real test of Indonesia's credibility would be what action it takes to break up the militias.

"I'll be briefing the (U.N.) security council on Friday and by then we shall have a clearer idea on whether repression has been more effective, as I always thought, than persuasion."

Some guns handed in

Indonesian Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab will brief the Security Council on Indonesia's measures on October 11 and 12.

Yudhoyono told reporters in Jakarta about 1,000 home-made guns had been handed over but police had received only limited amounts of more sophisticated military-issue weapons.

"We also have to be firm with them because according to Indonesian law, the militias should not take up arms, stir violence, disturb order that will only tarnish Indonesia's image," he said.

The Indonesian security forces established and armed the militias in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to persuade East Timorese to vote to stay part of Indonesia in a United Nations-brokered ballot last year.

When the result was a landslide in favor of ending more than 23 years of Indonesian military rule, the militias, backed by soldiers and police, razed the territory, killed hundreds and herded 300,000 across the border into Indonesian West Timor.

The militias, still supported by rogue soldiers and police, have since established a rule of terror over much of West Timor, operating from inside a human shield of more than 120,000 refugees still in the territory.

The violence in West Timor has added to concerns President Abdurrahman Wahid cannot control his security forces, which once made up the country's most powerful institution but have found themselves floundering in the chaotic transition to democracy.

Wahid last week sacked his national police and the deputy head of the armed forces and insisted he was gaining the upper hand against those forces trying to undermine his 11-month rule as Indonesia's first democratically elected president.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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