Subject: AFP: Pro-Indonesia militias attack houses
in East Timor capital
Date: Sat, 22 May 1999 10:11:29 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Pro-Indonesia militias attack houses in East Timor capital
DILI, East Timor, May 17 (AFP) - Pro-Indonesia militias ransacked or torched the homes
of independence supporters here in a night attack and trapped several United Nations
personnel in a restaurant, residents and reports said Monday. The attack took place around
10:00 pm Sunday, said residents of Metiaut village on the eastern outskirts of the East
Timorese capital Dili.
No casualties were reported as the villagers fled before the attack by the group of
armed men. Residents said they were believed to be from the Aitarak (Thorn) pro-Indonesia
militia.
In Sydney the Australian Associated Press, in a report from its Dili correspondent John
Martinkus, said an Australian diplomat and several UN personnel were trapped in a
beachfront restaurant during the attack.
Martinkus said the militia, armed with M-16 rifles and pistols, torched 10 houses and
ransacked 10 others.
The group of nine was trapped until police arrived from Dili to bring them back to the
city, he said.
AAP quoted a spokesman for the United Nations team, an advance guard for a civilian and
police force which will supervise an August 8 referendum on autonomy or independence, as
saying he would report the attack.
"The United Nations will be taking this matter up with the Indonesian authorities
because it is an example of the lack of security which is destabilizing the peace process
here," David Wimhurst told AAP.
"The security authorities here must take the necessary steps to stop these militia
from attacking civilians, burning down homes and intimidating the civilian
population."
The raid came shortly after the return of the militia leaders from the resort island of
Bali, where they had been attending a weekend briefing by Foreign Minister Ali Alatas on
Jakarta's autonomy proposal.
It followed violence the previous Sunday and Monday when pro-Indonesia militia rampaged
through Dili, killing 11 people according to a human rights group.
Last week's attacks forced thousands of pro-independence supporters to flee the
residential areas targeted by the militia.
Violence has escalated despite the signing of an agreement on the autonomy offer by
Jakarta and Lisbon at the United Nations in New York on May 5, and a peace pact signed by
representatives of the pro- and anti-independence camps in Dili last month.
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