TV 3 6pm News
COUP: A military coup is effectively ruling Indonesia, headed by two generals and fronted by foreign affairs minister Alatas. The coup is reported to have begun over the announcement to impose martial law. Habibe did not favour the move but military generals imposed it anyway. Shooting and Looting continue in East Timor.
CRISIS MEETING: The APEC crisis meeting today achieved little as nobody is prepared to enter Indonesia or East Timor without Indonesian approval and that is hardly likely. Today Prime Minister Shipley spoke with both Habibe and US President Bill Clinton but nothing of any merit eventuated.
HERCULES: A Kiwi Hercules is in Australia and the 14 men on board are awaiting further orders. Armoured vehicles, US warships, planes and boats are all on standby to go to East Timor. Protests continue in both Jakarta and Australia.
McKINNON:
NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon says the East Timor
crisis is much bigger than APEC and is now a task only the
UN can deal with. He said that all 21 APEC members would
support any move to commit troops or assets to East Timor if
the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ordered
it.