FED: UN personnel on Timor within weeks Downer predicts

AAP General News (Australia)
04-22-1999
FED: UN personnel on Timor within weeks Downer predicts

By Stephen Spencer, Diplomatic Correspondent

CANBERRA, April 22 AAP - Australia hopes to see United Nations personnel in East Timor
within weeks, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today.

But the federal opposition called on the government to act now to ensure Australian troops
were ready to fly to Indonesia immediately Australia received any request from the UN.

A peace agreement signed yesterday in Dili has for the time being brought an end to the
massacres in East Timor by pro-Indonesian militia.

Talks in New York between Indonesia and Portugal also appear close to an agreement that
will clear the way for the UN to help monitor landmark elections on the future of East Timor
due for July.

"If these talks are a success, clearly we hope a UN presence can be on the ground in the
next few weeks," Mr Downer told Reuters in Tokyo, where he is seeking Japan's views on East
Timor.

The upsurge in violence has prompted the UN to reconsider its original plan to place only a
small peacekeeping force on East Timor - a development strongly welcomed by the federal
opposition.

But opposition defence spokesman Steve Martin urged the government not to wait for any UN
invitation and to begin preparing to deploy troops now.

"It must be seen by our regional neighbours and the United Nations that Australia is
prepared to immediately assist with the troubled situation in East Timor and that we would be
able to deploy the appropriate troops to the region without delay," Mr Martin said.

"It would seriously damage Australia's credibility if we were unable to meet any request
from the United Nations quickly and professionally."

However, Mr Downer warned it was ultimately up to Indonesia to ensure yesterday's truce
held and there was no further killings by the militias.

"For the time being, Indonesia is responsible for the security situation in East Timor," Mr
Downer said.

"They've done an inadequate job in recent times and it's important that they perform
effectively to do everything they can to stop the violence and move to disarm the two sides."

Mr Downer will join Prime Minister John Howard in Bali next Tuesday to discuss East Timor's
future with Indonesia's President BJ Habibie.

AAP ss/mfh/gl/br

KEYWORD: TIMOR AUST NIGHTLEAD

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