TIMOR TODAY 15/10/99
For full text and images see… http://www.easttimor.com/
PHOTOS
a) Indonesia's Foreign Minister Ali Alatas. (AP Photo/Muchtar Zakaria) 15/10/99 (Associated Press)
b) Leader of the Aitarak Militia Eurico Guterres, left, addresses a gathering of about 150 pro- Indonesia supporters
near the town of Liquisa in East Timor on Wednesday. (AP Photo/APTN)
NEWS
1) Minister Alatas urges lawmakers to OK Timor independence JAKARTA -Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas Wednesday
urged parliament to approve East Timor’s independence, saying the country could face economic sanctions if the
legislators even delay their decision.
2) Indonesian army says it fired first in border clash 15/10/99 (AFP) DILI, East Timor - The head of the multinational
force in East Timor, Major General Peter Cosgrove said Thursday that Indonesia had admitted its forces fired the first
shots in a border clash last weekend.
3) Militiamen sneak over border to E Timor; vow resistance. 15/10/99 (Associated Press) LIQUICA, Indonesia - Some
anti-independence militia groups that fled East Timor are secretly returning with plans to launch a guerrilla campaign
against the international peacekeeping force charged with keeping them out.
4) Interfet banned from East Timor skies 15/10/99 (Jakarta Post) UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi - The Air Force
operational commander for Eastern Indonesia, Air Rear Marshall Ian Santoso, rejected a request from the International
Force for East Timor (Interfet) to fly over East Timor, following the fatal shooting of an Indonesian police officer in
Sunday’s mix-up over the East Timor border.
5) Xanana Gusmao to return to East Timor next week 15/10/99 (AFP) CANBERRA - East Timorese independence leader Xanana
Gusmao said Thursday he planned to return to his homeland next week for the first time in seven years.
6) Disinformation sows fear in Timor refugees -US official 15/10/99 (Asia Times) WASHINGTON - East Timorese, held by
Indonesian-backed militias in West Timor, are receiving disinformation about conditions back home, apparently to
discourage them from returning, according to a top US official.
7) East Timor: Hilltop clinic has the right formula 15/10/99 (The Australian) Falintil freedom fighter Benjamin de Jesus
was shot about a month ago and the wound, which left a hole drilled in his side, had not healed. The Falintil commandant
came out of the hills yesterday to have his wound tended and Corporal Wiseman 23, a medic from Ballarat, was on hand to
help.
BRIEFINGS
8) Critics slam Indonesia’s General Wiranto for weakness 15/10/99 (The Asian Wall Street Journal) JAKARTA - Gen. Wiranto
is seen by many Indonesians as a relic of the authoritarian past. Many overseas see him as the hand behind the recent
upheaval in East Timor. But there is evidence to suggest the truth may be less dramatic, though no less worrying for the
country’s future: that he is an armed-forces commander who isn’t always in full control of his troops.
9) UNCHR, OCHA, and USAID Timor Updates 15/10/99 In other developments outside Dili, visits by medical teams to the Suai
region have revealed a growing need for medicines and other relief supplies. The opening of the Suai airport in order to
airlift aid is a priority, and flights are to follow as soon as the security situation allows.
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