Subject: SMH: Army chief in surprise recall on eve
of poll
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 09:49:30 -0400
From: Joyo@aol.comSydney Morning Herald Saturday, August 14, 1999
EAST TIMOR
Army chief in surprise recall on eve of poll
By MARK DODD, Herald Correspondent in Dili
East Timor's military commander has been recalled on the eve of the political campaign
leading up to the August 30 referendum to decide the territory's future.
The changeover sees Special Forces Colonel Tono Suratman, 47, replaced by an ex-Special
Forces Colonel Muhammad Noer Muis, also 47, from the strife-torn northern Aceh province.
Colonel Suratman is being transferred to Jakarta.
"There is nothing special about this replacement," said Udayana (Eastern)
Commander, Major-General Adam Damiri, who is based in Bali. "In the military we can
do this anytime and anywhere."
The reshuffle is significant because traditionally the post has been filled by a senior
officer serving in intelligence or the special forces. It is also a position that
frequently has been used to operate outside the military's formal command structure.
Colonel Muis, who previously served a two-year tour of duty in East Timor, comes directly
from an army warfare college in Sumatra to take command of a mixed force of regular and
territorial troops estimated at about 14,000.
General Damiri told reporters that the security situation in East Timor was improving
and that the military would continue to play a neutral role in the lead-up to the
referendum. "The situation now is conducive [for the ballot] and we have to keep it
that way," he said. "I have noticed some small incidents in some areas and I
have raised this with my people because East Timorese want to live in peace."
Commenting on the military's strategic planning in East Timor, General Damiri said the
Indonesian military had ceased offensive operations and would redeploy its forces once
pro-independence fighters and rival militias regrouped into cantonments and disarmed.
The United Nation's senior military officer in East Timor, Brigadier Rezaq Haider, said
he expected "very good relations" with Colonel Muis.
Asked whether the security situation would remain calm during the political campaign
period due to start today, Brigadier Haider said if rival groups stuck to the agreements
they had signed, the campaign would be peaceful.
The commander-in-chief of the pro-Indonesian militias, Joao Tavares, pledged the
militias would soon move into camps as required by recent agreements.
He said he was expecting a successful political campaign for the pro-autonomy side and
predicted a resounding victory at the ballot box.
But in recent interviews, Basilio Araujo, the spokesman for the pro-autonomy Forum for
Unity Democracy and Justice (FPDK), warned that his supporters were armed and would fight
for autonomy regardless of the outcome of the referendum. Despite the promised peaceful
election, a prolonged series of gunshots rang out over the market area of Dili yesterday,
causing widespread panic and raising tensions.
An official from the nearby army headquarters told the UN that about 150 shots were
fired by soldiers testing refurbished rifles.
One woman shopping in the market when the firing started said pro-Indonesian Aitarak
militia have been warning women and children to stay off the streets today.
"Tomorrow, women and children should not leave their homes to join the campaigning
because we don't want to shoot you - this is a warning," the woman said, quoting the
militiaman.
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