Dili – The United Nations said Wednesday it had uncovered no evidence to support allegations that pro-Jakarta militia engaged in mass murder in East Timor.
"We've heard horrendous stories for which so far there's not a shred of evidence," Michel Barton, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) in Dili told Reuters.
"There's no evidence so far of very large massacres. There have been murders. There have been terrible things that have happened here ... But we don't believe that people in their thousands have been killed andtheir bodies buried or thrown in the sea. If this had been the case we would have found evidence of this by now and none has been found."
Miltia groups rampaged through East Timor last month, destroying virtually every city, town and hamlet after the population voted overwhelmingly in favor of independence in a UN-supervised referendum.
About 400,000 of East Timor's 890,000 people remain unaccounted for. Aid officials say some are dead but the vast majority remain in hiding in the hills, awaiting assurances that it's safe to return to their homes.
A UN-mandated international military force, known as Interfet, continued its deployment among the western regencies of East Timor Wednesday with an air mobile operation in the Bobinaru region.
Interfet troops have been pouring into those areas along the border with West Timor for the past week, hoping to stamp out the last militia activity and secure the region for badly needed humanitarian assistance.
The United States began resupplying Interfet troops in the east around Los Palos Wednesday using CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters based on the USS Belleau Wood, which is anchored in waters just off the capital, Dili. Washington has limited US. involvement here primarily to logistics, communications and intelligence support.
The UN force and Indonesian military officials are still sorting through conflicting versions of a shoot-out involving their forces in the hamlet of Motaain straddling the border between East and West Timor last Sunday.
An Interfet spokesman said Wednesday the multinational force commander, Australian Major General Peter Cosgrove, would respond favorably to any constructive suggestions by Indonesian armed forces commander General Wiranto on how to avoid future clashes along the border.
"Commander [of] Interfet is open to any suggestions from General Wiranto," said Colonel Mark Kelly. "He respects General Wiranto. He certainly respects solutions and options that he has presented. We will have to look at those closely."
Kelly said media reports that the Indonesian army was disarming militia forces in West Timor, if true, also would be welcome.