Agence France Presse September 22, 2000, Friday

US would slap economic sanctions on Indonesia: Ramos-Horta PRAGUE, Sept 22

East Timorese leader Jose Ramos-Horta said here Friday that the United States government was prepared to impose sanctions on Indonesia if it did not restore order in the troubled state.

The Nobel laureate, who was the East Timorese independence movement's chief spokesman at the United Nations throughout Indonesia's 24-year occupation, was speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in the Czech capital.

Ramos-Horta said he had "assurances" from the US government, the National Security Council and Congress that "there is going to be serious economic repercussions" if the Indonesian government did not "did not get its act together."

The Indonesian government, bowing to international pressure, said Friday they had begun to disarm pro-Jakarta East Timorese militias blamed for the murder of three UN aid workers in West Timor.

The disarmament pledge was made in New York on Tuesday by Indonesia's chief security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a closed-door meeting with members of the UN Security Council.

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