Dili – The UN Transition Administration of East Timor (UNTAET) has denounced the "disinformation campaign" waged by militia groups in Indonesian West Timor, whose aim is to make East Timorese refugees afraid to return to their homeland.

UNTAET spokesman Manoel Almeida e Silva told Lusa Monday that the campaign was promoted by the West Timor bulletin A Luta (The Struggle), published in Bahasa (the language of Indonesia) by the self-proclaimed United Timorese Heroes (UNTAS).

The issues of A Luta distributed among East Timorese refugees in West Timor urge them not to return to East Timor. A copy of the first edition, obtained by Lusa, outlines what it terms Portugal's "neo-colonialist" designs on East Timor and describes the difficulties faced by residents of Dili, the East Timor capital, due to "rising crime and increased despotism". The publication also claims that East Timor's August 30 vote for independence was "fraudulent and manipulated".

Almeida e Silva said UNTAS, which was first noted in January, had been set up to join under one banner East Timorese groups against independence and for integration into Indonesia. "This situation worries the United Nations" he said, adding that the matter had been discussed by UNTAET administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Indonesian president, during Abdurrahman Wahid's recent visit to the territory.