Michael Perry, Sydney – Pro-Jakarta militia in Indonesian West Timor have abandoned hit and run attacks on East Timor and begun infiltrating deeper into the territory, the United Nation's senior official in East Timor said on Monday.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, in Australia for celebrations to mark the United Nations' 55th anniversary on Tuesday, said he would raise the issue with Australia to ensure UN peacekeepers in East Timor had the military capacity to deal with the militias.
It is believed the UN wants Australia, which supplies the bulk of UN peacekeepers, to be more flexible with the rules of engagement in East Timor. "There has been an obvious change in the tactics by the militia since late July," de Mello told a news conference in Sydney before heading to Canberra for talks.
"Until then they would launch very short, hit and run, cross border attacks against UNTAET [United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor] positions in East Timor and then run back to West Timor and seek sanctuary," he said.
"In the last two and a half months there have been deeper infiltrations by groups, varying from five to 30 men, who have reached sector central." The towns of Alas and Same are in this area and are 30-40 miles south-southeast of the East Timor capital Dili.
"Some [militia] have been there for several weeks and we are obviously concerned that this might represent a new trend," del Mello said.
UN prepares for infiltrations
Indonesia supported the militias in a failed bid to influence the outcome of last year's UN-brokered ballot in East Timor, in which Timorese overwhelmingly voted to end Jakarta's rule.
The militias went on a rampage of violence but were forced to retreat into West Timor, where they have terrorized East Timorese stranded in refugee camps.
De Mello said UNTAET must be ready for any increase in militia infiltrations in coming weeks. "I will take advantage of my visit to Canberra to make sure Australia helps us create a maximum reaction capacity," he said. "We must be ready for the hypotheses of new infiltrations coming in the weeks and we are just getting ready for it."
De Mello plans to meet Australian Prime Minister John Howard, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer and defense force chief Admiral Chris Barrie on Tuesday.
UN calls for real disarmament
The UN and other international aid agencies pulled their staff out of volatile West Timor after militias butchered three UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) workers in the border town of Atambua on September 6.
De Mello said the United Nations would not decide whether it was safe to return until after a Security Council visit to East Timor, and hopefully West Timor, starting November 11.
Moves by Indonesia to disarm the militias have been slow, but de Mello said in recent days there were signs the Indonesian military (TNI) and police had become tougher on militias.
"There are indications that measures are being taken, certainly more drastic than had been the case until recently," he said. "How effective they are is impossible for me to say."
Indonesian police say 1,256 homemade weapons have been confiscated, but only a small number of military guns seized. "I am not referring to homemade shotguns, I am referring to combat weapons, the old G3s of the Portuguese army, SKS, M-16, rocket launchers, hand grenades and ammunition," he said.
De Mello welcomed the detention of notorious militia leader Eurico Guterres, but called for more arrests. "Disarming and disbanding is meaningless until the criminal militia commanders are actually detained," he said.