Also: Two TNI Personnel Attacked on East Timor Border

TNI HIGHLY RESPECTS E TIMOR'S DECISION TO SACK POLICE PERSONNEL

July 24, 2005 9:55pm

Antara

Kupang, July 23 (ANTARA) - The East Nusatenggara military commander, Col. Inf APJ Noch Bola, said the Indonesia Defence Forces (TNI) highly respected the East Timorese government's decision to sack five police officials of that country's border patrol unit for having fired on Indonesian military personnel in April 2005.

"We certainly appreciate the step taken by East Timor by dismissing the five members of its border police patrol unit after going through legal process ," he said here on Saturday.

The heavy sanction handed down against the five guilty police personnel by East Timor's government indicated that country really wants to forge better relations with Indonesia as its closest neighbor.

Noch Bola said at first TNI urged East Timor to respond the shooting incident against First Lieutenant Tedy Setiawan, a TNI troop, inside Indonesian territory in a wise manner by taking into account bilateral relations with Indonesia.

The effort has ended up with a fruitful result by sacking five members of border police patrol unit which can be made as a good lesson in order to prevent similar incident from recurrence in the future.

(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)

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National

Two TNI Personnel Attacked on East Timor Border 
Friday, 29 July, 2005 | 23:22 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Second Corporal Heri Saroso and First Corporal Sugito from the Eighth Armed Battalion assigned at the Nunura Post, Belu regency, were attacked by East Timorese citizens at around 11.00 am Eastern Indonesian Time (WITA) on Wednesday (27/07).

This is the second such incident and took place as the two officers were conducting a patrol to stop smuggling from East Timor.

As the result of the attack, the two officers suffer serious injuries in their hands and arms.

"They saw a group of people from East Timor bringing two jerry cans and two crates of Tiger brand beer crossing the borders," said Lt. Col. Yul Aviandi, Commander of the Indonesia-East Timor Border Security Task Unit, on Friday (29/07).

However, when the TNI personnel challenged the smugglers, Yul Aviandi continued, suddenly four East Timorese citizens appeared wielding machetes and attacked them.

At the same time, the FNC weapons of the TNI personnel were seized and taken by the East Timorese citizens.

East Timorese police assigned to the Border Patrol Unit (BPU) succeeded in taking back the seized weapons and return them to the TNI.

"We have reported the chronology of the incident to the East Timor Police Chief so that action can be taken against these citizens," said Aviandi. (Jems de Fortuna-Tempo News Room)