Scoop Today Special - Crisis In East Timor

Wednesday, 8 September 1999, 1:13 pm
Article: Alastair Thompson

As Foreign Ministers from around the world arrive in Auckland for APEC the Crisis in East Timor is overshadowing the summit. Scoop is covering the Crisis and APEC in depth.

SCOOP FEATURE - EAST TIMOR

Dili UN Compound Defended By Indonesian Army

- Speaking from the UN Compound in Dili by phone to Radio New Zealand New Zealander Andrew Ladley of the UNAMET mission says the compound is now secure as it is being defended by a new army unit which has just arrived. See... UN Compound In Dili Defended By Indonesian Army [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00048.htm

Aussie Emergency Cabinet Session

- The Australian Cabinet is set to meet for an emergency Cabinet session as speculation mounts that they are preparing to send troops to East Timor. Prime Minister John Howard says he has little confidence in the imposition of martial law and says Australia would be prepared to commit 4,000 troops.

Timor Minister's Meeting Tomorrow

Arrangements will not be able to be made in time for an urgent meeting of foreign ministers today to discuss the crisis in East Timor. See... Foreign Ministers Timor Meeting Will Not Be Toda [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00047.htm

Colin Isles - The Fate Of A Brave People In A Cowardly World

- "For the merest moment in time the East Timorese glimpsed the possibility of an end to 24 years of the brutal and illegal occupation that had cost a third of their population," writes veteren East Timor campaigner Colin Iles. See... Column on East Timor by Campaigner Colin Iles [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00049.htm

Save The Children Open Letter To Don McKinnon On East Timor Crisis

- See... Save The Children Letter To McKinnon [1] in the Politics wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO9909/S00048.htm

Few Signs of Martial Law Having Any Effect

- Reports this morning say there is no sign of the declaration of Martial Law in East Timor having any effect on the mob violence in the territory. Yesterday the PM Jenny Shipley said she had been assured by Indonesian President B.J. Habibe that he would "not tolerate anarchy" in East Timor. However Labour Leader Helen Clark said today that the National Government's excuses for President Habibie and the Indonesian Government are wearing very thin. See... History will judge National's reluctance [1] in the Parliament wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA9909/S00164.htm

Frigate Te Kaha Deployed To Darwin

- The Prime Minister, Rt Hon Jenny Shipley and the Minister of Defence, Hon Max Bradford, this morning announced the Government had agreed to deploy HMNZS Te Kaha to Darwin. See... Te Kaha Deploys To Assist In East Timor [1] in the Parliament wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA9909/S00162.htm

Latest UN and US Briefings On Timor Crisis

- UN Headlines: 1. Security Council mission en route to Jakarta as Secretary-General confers with world leaders on ways of stopping violence in East Timor. 2. UN staff in East Timor seek safety in guarded compound as Indonesia declares martial law. See... UN Statements On East Timor - Daily Highlights [1] . See also the US State Department Briefing On East Timor [2] , dated September 7 and the statement by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on East Timor, which was issued on Monday, 6 September. See... UN Secretary-General Expresses Extreme Concern [3] . All in the General wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE9909/S00045.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE9909/S00044.htm
[3] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/GE9909/S00046.htm

Is Kofi Annan Coming To APEC?

- The Prime Minister Jenny Shipley outlined the government's position on the East Timor crisis in a statement at about 1pm yesterday. Mrs Shipley said she had been talking to Australian Prime Minister John Howard and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and that the government was considering moving troops and equipment to Darwin. She indicated that British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook would be coming to New Zealand, possibly today, to meet foreign ministers on the crisis and suggested others, including senior UN officials, may now choose to attend the APEC related discussions on the matter. She did not say who those officials might be. During question time in the house yesterday Don McKinnon and Jenny Shipley expanded on their statements. See... Questions Of The Day On East Timor [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00044.htm

McKinnon Statement To Parliament On East Timor

- The Government condemns in the strongest terms the violence that has broken out in East Timor. The initiative of President Habibie's Government to not only bring democracy to Indonesia but resolve the East Timor issue, which we have welcomed and worked to help implement, is in danger of being undone by criminal violence. See... Statement to Parliament by Rt Hon Don McKinnon [1] in the Parliament wire. Following this statement the leaders of all major parties also made statements on the situation in East Timor and the upcoming APEC summit. See... Hot Heads In House On East Timor [2] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA9909/S00139.htm
[2] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00042.htm

Sister Marlena - "I Cannot Tell Them No One Is Coming"

- Talking on Radio New Zealand yesterday morning Sister Marlena in Dili East Timor said her house and her fellow sisters were providing refuge to 300 women and children refugees from the surrounding neighbourhood. The East Timorese men had fled into the hills. Sister Marlena said the refugees were waiting for Western troops to arrive and rescue them. "I haven't the heart to tell them no-one is coming", Sister Marlena told Kim Hill. Q: "Do you feel as if you have been abandoned?" A: "Sort of". Q: "What do you do?" A: "The women and the children pray all day." Scoop was deeply moved by Sister Marlena's dilemma says we owe it to her and her wards to use the opportunity of APEC to bring her salvation. See... East Timor: We Must Keep Hope Alive [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00041.htm

Analysis - The UN's Darkest Hour?

- Events over the past week have now brought the true situation in East Timor into the open, and in the process the innocence and naivete of the wider international community has been harshly exposed. Scoop's Alastair Thompson analyses the latest developments. See... UN Provides Bait For East Timor Disaster [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00020.htm

Fax The East Timor Decision Makers

- Want to have a say on the East Timor crisis? Courtesy of Peace Movement Aoteroa Scoop lists a number of contact fax numbers for: Bill Clinton, President Habibe, the Indonesian Defence Minister, John Howard, Jenny Shipley, Kofi Annan etc... See... Have Your Say On East Timor Crisis [1] in the Headlines wire.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00040.htm

TUESDAY

- Scoop Today Special- East Timor Crisis Deepens [1] - Sister Marlena said the refugees were waiting for Western troops to arrive and rescue them. "I haven't the heart to tell them no-one is coming", Sister Marlena said.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00038.htm

MONDAY

- Scoop Today - Anarchy In East Timor [1] - Another Kosovo on our doorstep? Over the weekend the referendum result in East Timor was announced and the security situation has deteriorated severely. Scoop is covering the crisis closely.

[1] - http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL9909/S00031.htm

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

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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