Don Greenlees – Confidential Indonesian army documents show the number of combat troops in East Timor has remained steady in recent months, in an embarrassing rebuttal of Jakarta's claims to have started troop withdrawals.
Personnel data on the armed forces operations in East Timor reveal 7938 combat troops were still stationed in the contested territory in August – unchanged from a month earlier when troop cuts were supposed to have occurred.
In an extremely damaging leak, more than 100 pages of highly detailed data on unit compositions and the territory's elaborate network of paramilitary groups have been circulated to foreign journalists and governments. Western diplomats, who have reviewed the documents, say they have no doubt the information is accurate.
It shows total armed forces strength in East Timor, including combat and territorial battalions, stood at 17,834 by late August. The documents also confirm the continued presence of units from the army's elite special forces, Kopassus.
Indonesia has made strenuous efforts to convince the East Timorese and the international community that troop numbers were being reduced. After a much-publicised withdrawal of about 1000 troops from Dili in late July, Indonesia claimed no combat forces were left in the territory.
In an interview with The Australian last week, Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said the only forces remaining in East Timor were several territorial battalions, comprising 750 to 1000 troops each. Asked if combat troops remained, he said: "As far as I know, not any more."
The comprehensive leak of personnel data is a damaging blow to Indonesia's credibility as it attempts to negotiate a final settlement to the status of East Timor, 23 years after Indonesia invaded and annexed the former Portuguese colony.
President B.J. Habibie has offered to give wide-ranging autonomy to East Timor in the hope of winning international recognition of Indonesian sovereignty. The promise of troop reductions was seen as a gesture of goodwill aimed at improving the mood of negotiations with East Timorese groups and at the UN.
But based on the armed forces' own estimates, overall troop strength actually increased between November 1997, when combat and territorial personnel numbered 15,912, and August. Combat forces increased by 1766 over the same period. If irregular and militia groups are included, the overall number of personnel under armed forces control is as high 21,000.
The documents confirm five combat battalions, each with a strength of 985 men, are stationed in the two operational zones that divide East Timor. A further 10 companies, including Kopassus units, are also attached to the Dili command.
Sources said at least one Kopassus company of some 140 troops had been withdrawn. But this leaves one Kopassus company and a Kopassus intelligence and headquarters unit still in the territory. At the time of the staged-managed withdrawal in July, the armed forces claimed all special forces were departing.
The documents also show the extent of the armed forces control over civil administration, with 140 officers in senior bureaucratic jobs.