By Michelle Grattan, Hamish McDonald, Bernard Lagan and Peter Cole-Adams.
Indonesia buckled last night and invited a United Nations peacekeeping force "from friendly nations" to enter East Timor.
President B.J.Habibie, in a televised address to the nation from the presidential palace in Jakarta, said the situation was "rapidly deteriorating" and the force would help "restore peace and protect the populace".
The President said he had taken the decision after hearing the results of an inspection on Saturday of East Timor's capital, Dili, by the commander of the armed forces, General Wiranto.
"Too many people have lost their lives since the beginning of the unrest, lost their homes and security," Dr Habibie said. "We can't wait any longer. We have to stop the suffering and mourning immediately."
Dr Habibie informed the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, of the long delayed decision after a 2 1/2-hour meeting of Cabinet and senior military leaders.
No timing was given for the entry of the international force, to be headed by Australian troops, but Dr Habibie said Indonesia would welcome the force in East Timor "as soon as possible".
The Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr Ali Alitas, flies to New York today for more detailed talks at the UN.
The US deputy national security adviser, Mr Sandy Berger, said last night that he expected the force could be deployed "within the next several days". Dr Habibie said the force would have to work on the ground with the Indonesian military – discredited after two weeks of failing to control the murderous pro-Indonesian militias.
Thousands of East Timorese have been killed or have disappeared, on reliable accounts, including UN documentation, as the military stood by and in some cases cases took part.
Dr Habibie praised the efforts of Indonesian troops but said they faced "very difficult psychological constraints" – an apparent reference to emotional links with the pro-Indonesian militias responsible for the brutality and destruction.
In Darwin, where much of Australia's troops and Navy and Air Force support is based, lights were ablaze all along the docks and at Tindall Base, near Katherine, Blackhawk helicopters were engaged in late night manoeuvres.
Earlier, the Prime Minister said the United States had joined about a dozen nations in a "coalition of the willing" ready to help restore peace.
Commitments had come from New Zealand, Canada, Britain, Portugal, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines, with additional support likely from Sweden and France.
In Australia, there were fears earlier that Indonesia may try to exclude Australians from any ground involvement – insisting on an Asia-only force.
President Clinton said it was anticipated the US would provide extensive airlift support to bring troops from other countries, primarily Asia, other logistical support, intelligence and communications. Both Mr Howard and the Americans yesterday slid around the questions of whether the US would have any ground troops in the operation.
Mr Howard said that the Australian military – the people who needed to be satisfied with the US commitment – was happy with what was proposed.
As the peacekeepers prepare to move in, thousands of frightened refugees – most without food or shelter – threw themselves on ill-equipped hideouts of the pro-independence Falintil resistance in the rugged hills of East Timor.
Reports reaching the UN in Darwin said they were being pursued by the army-backed militias – with some deaths already reported – as they took their scorched-earth campaign to a new level of terror. The reports said there were some attacks on up to 50,000 refugees who had sought refuge in the hills near Dare, nine kilometres from Dili. More than 100,000 East Timorese have already been taken to holding camps in West Timor, some of them under armed guard.
In Darwin, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, said yesterday that she wanted events elsewhere in Indonesia – including West Timor – to be included in her planned war crimes tribunal on East Timor. She flew into Darwin to talk to witnesses to the killing and violence and told a press conference that she had spoken to refugees who had first-hand knowledge of atrocities and would name those responsible.
There had been "gross, blatant, terrible violations of the human rights of East Timorese", Mrs Robinson said. "It has been done in the uniform of a government complicit in what has been done in militia trappings."