Subject: USGOV: State Dept. on Attack on UN
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 09:10:14 +0000
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>*EPF201 06/29/99 TRANSCRIPT:
STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, JUNE 29, 1999 (East Timor, Croatia, Kosovo, Philippines,
North Korea) (5020)
State Department Spokesman James Rubin briefed.
Following is the State Department transcript:
RUBIN: Welcome to the State Department briefing. Today, this Tuesday - if you take
yesterday's 12:00 briefing and today's 12:50 briefing, you have two briefings that began
on time at 12:30. So we've averaged out this week two on-time performances.
We have a statement on the US delegation to the UN special session on population issues
that we'll be issuing after the briefing.
Let me start, however, with the subject of East Timor. On June 29, a pro-Jakarta
civilian militia attacked a recently established regional headquarters of the UN mission
in East Timor in the northwest Boganaro district with sticks and stones. At least one
foreign official of the UN mission and several Indian local officials of the mission were
injured. The United States condemns this callous attack on unarmed UN personnel in the
strongest terms. The Indonesian Government - which agreed in its May 5 agreement with the
UN and Portugal to be solely responsible for security in East Timor -- must take immediate
steps to establish order, apprehend and bring to justice the perpetrators of this cowardly
act.
The United States calls on Indonesian authorities to create conditions in which the UN
personnel, including American citizens, can prepare for and conduct a popular consultation
on autonomy in late August in an environment that is secure and free of fear and
intimidation. Pro-Jakarta militias which have operated with the acquiescence and support
of elements of the Indonesian military are responsible for much of the recent violence and
killings in East Timor. We call on the government of Indonesia and military authorities to
control and disarm these militias and to prevent further violent attacks on innocent
civilians and UN personnel doing their duty in East Timor.
Q: You've been following some of this for some time - could you characterize the stance
taken by the government in Jakarta?
RUBIN: As I indicated, we're not satisfied with the fact that the Indonesian military
has not taken the necessary steps to bring into control these militias. So we're not
satisfied with - QIt's not a runaway military is it?
RUBIN: We're not satisfied with the position of the Indonesian military and its
government. Any more on this subject?
Q: Do you think this sort of behavior is directly condoned by Habibi, or --
RUBIN: I'm not going to speculate on what steps are taken within the Indonesian
Government and its military. What I'm going to tell you is we're not satisfied with the
results.
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