United Nations – The United States, Britain and other Security Council members have urged Indonesia to keep its pledge to disarm militias that continue to attack East Timor and to end army support for the militia.

In a council briefing, Assistant Secretary-General Mr Hedi Annabi said members of the Indonesian armed forces continued "to tolerate and even support" militias in West Timor who had been testing the newly deployed UN force.

Indonesian authorities gave the UN force commander assurances as recently as March 10 that "stern action would be taken against militia activity" and militia training, he said.

But the militias were still operating along the border between West and East Timor. The US has asked Indonesia to disband the militias, move their leaders from Timor and end military collaboration with the militias.

Mr Annabi said the UN mission believed President Abdurraham Wahid was determined to resolve the problem but some military members "continue to stand in the way".

Bangladeshi Ambassador Mr Amwarul Chowdhury, the council president, said closing refugee camps in West Timor, where the militias operated, was a good start to countering the violence. The UN expected about half the 100,000 refugees still in the camps to return to East Timor.

East Timorese leader Mr Jose Ramos Horta has urged the swift return of East Timorese. West Timor officials said a month ago that almost 500 East Timorese had died due to poor sanitation and medical care in the camps, Mr Ramos Horta said, where attacks and intimidation by militia and military "are an ongoing reality".