TIMOR TODAY 23/09/99

For full text, links and photos visit - http://www.easttimor.com/

PHOTOS

a) East Timorese children gather around sleeping twins, Ana, foreground, and Ini, inside a sports stadium as a refugee camp in Kupang, West Timor. With UN Peacekeeping forces now restoring order in East Timor, the future of tens of thousands of refugees remains uncertain as most of them continue to live in tents after being forced out of East Timor by the Indonesian military. (AP Photo/STR)

b) Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes, seen in this undated handout photo, was found dead in the Dili suburb of Becora in East Timor yesterday, September 22, 1999. Thoenes, a reporter for London's Financial Times newspaper, was killed, according to officials and witnesses, in an attack by anti-independence militiamen. (AP Photo/Financial Times, HO)

NEWS

1) Refugees could be forcibly relocated, warn rights groups 23/09/99 (ETISC) DARWIN (Wed, Sep 22) - Tens of thousands of East Timorese pushed out to West Timor by Indonesia army-backed militias could be "transmigrated" to other parts of Indonesia within weeks, making it impossible for them to return home, warn human rights groups.

2) West Timor capital ready to explode 23/09/99 (Sydney Morning Herald) Kupang, the capital of West Timor, may soon explode into riots because of mounting tension between local residents and arrogant militias from East Timor.

3) Indonesian Security Forces Persecute East Timorese Refugees in Java and Bali. 23/09/99 (The Carter Center) The carefully planned campaign of violence and terror carried out by the Indonesian security forces and their militia surrogates in East Timor and in West Timor over the past several weeks has spread throughout Indonesia.

4) Mutilated bodies of up to 30 E.Timorese found dumped in Dili 23/09/99 (Sydney Morning Herald) Australian troops found dried blood and meat hooks in the garden near the well. Locals said they believed the victims had been hung by the hooks and cut before being dumped in the well. Clothes were scattered around the garden.

5) UN allows Indon æred tapeÆ to strangles food drops to starving refugees 23/09/99 (Sydney Morning Herald) The United Nations East Timor mission yesterday blamed Indonesian Government requirements for holding up critically needed food supplies for tens of thousands of starving East Timorese refugees.

6) Peace Operation In Timor Enters Critical Phase 23/09/99 (International Herald Tribune) SINGAPORE - The arrival Tuesday in East Timor of the first Australian Blackhawk helicopters and light armored vehicles for carrying troops indicates that the most dangerous phase of the peace-enforcement operation is about to begin: the attempt to take control of the area between Dili and the border with Indonesian West Timor.

7) Reporters group holds Indonesian army chief responsible for jurnalistÆs murder 23/09/99 (AFP) JAKARTA - A global journalists group said Wednesday it held Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto directly responsible for the murder of Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes in East Timor.

8) The Timor challenge for UN peace keepers, whose law? 23/09/99 (Sydney Morning Herald) When the NATO force Kfor entered Kosovo after the bombing of Serbia in June, television footage showed two young British soldiers explaining how they were attempting to come to terms with their role. "WeÆre supposed to be responsible for law and order", one said, "but we donÆt know which law we are supposed to be following, so we are applying British law."

9) East Timor killer held in mountains tells of murder plans 23/09/99 (Irish Times) The people here, some armed with crude guns, captured a member of the Aitarak militia, Eusebio Soarez, whose arms were tied to bamboo splits. He had confessed to killing 20 people.

10) How five nuns survived in East Timor 22/09/99 (ABC) Five nuns and more than 100 refugees have survived a fortnight of violence and intimidation at the Salesian Sisters compound. Now with the arrival of the multinational force the refugees have been able to leave the house for the first time in two weeks.

11) Many Indonesian policemen desert to independence side. 23/09/99 (The Independent) AT LEAST 100 members of the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) in East Timor have deserted and joined the pro-independence Falintil guerrilla movement, in a further indication of discord within TNI ranks.

12) Pilger: Real reason for UN role is to maintain Indon control 23/09/99 (The Guardian) The real reason for the United NationÆs peacekeeping role in East Timor is to maintain Indonesian control For the few of us who reported East Timor long before it was finally declared news, the ædisclosures" last weekend that Washington had trained IndonesiaÆs death squads are bizarre.

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Alastair Thompson

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Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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