| Subject: Interfet
triumph: now the peace enforcers are disturbing the peace
Sydney Morning Herald December 8, 1999
Interfet triumph: now the peace enforcers
are disturbing the peace
By MARK DODD,Herald Correspondent in Dili
Eleven weeks after he led international
troops into East Timor to restore order after a campaign of destruction by
the Indonesian army and its militia allies, Major-General Peter Cosgrove
believes his mission is virtually complete. One encouraging sign, he says,
is that the people of Dili are confident enough of their security to
complain about the noise of Interfet armoured personnel carriers sent in
to protect them.
''Just short of 80 days in, I think we
can probably say we've accomplished the mission we were sent in to
perform,'' General Cosgrove, the Australian commander of the 11,000-strong
international force, told the Herald in an interview.
''East Timor is now a safe place for the
people wherever they want to live. They can return to where they used to
live and rebuild their homes and their lives.
''Certainly, peace and security is
available wherever they want to live. It doesn't mean East Timor is not a
difficult place to live, because there's still widespread destruction that
hasn't been put right.''
General Cosgrove acknowledged there had
been ''misunderstandings'' with East Timor's biggest political coalition,
the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), but said Interfet had
behaved with ''great sensitivity''.
He said he could understand why the
Timorese were so eager to take charge of their own affairs after 24 years
of Indonesian rule.
''I look at the fact that a whole bunch
of people have been struggling for decades who now see the shining light
of freedom at the end of the tunnel and who feel they should have a role
immediately in the administration of this emerging nation,'' he said.
He said independence leader Jose
''Xanana'' Gusmao's suggestion that the UN scale down its military
presence in Dili was a welcome indication that people were confident
security had been re-established.
''I think it's a great sign people are
now saying: 'Could you tell those armoured personnel carriers to drive
more quietly?' Or: 'Is there any need for them to go down my street at
four in the morning?','' General Cosgrove said.
''But we must not ever give ground back
or be even seen to give ground back. We must always ensure that violent
adversaries are always deterred from chancing their arm.''
In the meantime, he appealed to the CNRT
to be patient.
Peter Cole-Adams reports: In Canberra,
the Opposition Leader, Mr Beazley, told a meeting of the Labor caucus that
Australia had to rebuild its relationship with Indonesia.
''East Timor cannot be the sole focus of
our foreign policy,'' a spokesman quoted him as saying. ''The imploding of
Indonesia would not be helpful to any of us - Australia or the South-East
Asian countries that border it.''
Reporting on his visit to East Timor last
week, Mr Beazley said Australia could not ignore what was happening in
West Timor or the need for some form of accountability for the crimes that
had happened in East Timor, but nor could it ignore Indonesia's capacity
to make life hard for Australia.
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