Jakarta on Alert as U.N. Force Nears Approval

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesian troops here were placed on high alert Tuesday in anticipation of a U.N. Security Council vote creating an Australian-led peacekeeping force for East Timor, Western military sources said.

Although the Indonesian capital was calm, the alert status--which was not announced publicly--reflected the government’s concern that a nationalistic backlash and protests could be sparked by its decision to accept foreign troops to do the job the Indonesian military could not: bring order to East Timor.

Many Indonesians believe Australia is biased in favor of pro-independence forces in the territory. East Timor voted overwhelmingly Aug. 30 in support of breaking away from Indonesia and has been racked by violence caused by militias that favor continued ties to the national government.

In New York, the Security Council worked into Tuesday night on a resolution authorizing an interim multinational peacekeeping force. The resolution calls for the peacekeepers to be led by an Australian commander, Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove, with the assistance of the Indonesian military and with a large presence of soldiers from neighboring Asian nations.

Participating countries may include Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines and Bangladesh, as well as New Zealand, Canada, Argentina, Fiji, France and Italy. Britain will offer Nepalese Gurkha soldiers in deference to Indonesia’s request for “Asian faces” in the force.

The Clinton administration has indicated that it is willing to provide logistical support but not ground troops for any peacekeeping force.

Peacekeepers could be on the ground by the weekend if the resolution is passed today, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday.

According to the draft resolution, the force is mandated to stay for four months or until a longer-term, U.N.-led peacekeeping operation takes over. The initial force would be charged with restoring order, protecting civilians and refugees and supporting humanitarian aid operations.

The council worked Tuesday to find a way to ensure cooperation between the Indonesian military and the outside forces, which many here consider intruders.

“This is very difficult and complex for us,” Downer said. “But it’s very important that security and stability can be restored and they move toward independence as fast as possible.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner and independence advocate Jose Ramos-Horta warned that the arrival of peacekeeping troops would not necessarily mean the end of violence in the ravaged territory. He predicted clashes if Indonesian troops remain.

“It’s an explosive situation. Once we have an international force on the ground and Indonesian troops are still there, it’s going to be impossible to control the emotions of our people,” he said Tuesday at the United Nations, warning that civilians may vent their anger at a military that has dominated East Timor since Indonesia invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975. “The security must be entirely, exclusively in the hands of the multinational force.”

Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Abdullah Alatas said the Indonesian troops would be withdrawn, but not for several months.

“We are under tremendous pressure right now,” Alatas said in New York before heading back into discussions with the Security Council. “Let us see, let us hope.”

Australia, whose Southeast Asia defense policy is built around a 1995 security pact with Indonesia, has been among the most vocal critics of the Indonesian government’s unwillingness or inability to halt the violence in East Timor. Demonstrators here have held almost daily protests outside the Australian Embassy.

Ironically, Australia is the only Western country to recognize Indonesia’s claim to sovereignty over East Timor.

Few reports, meanwhile, were reaching Jakarta from East Timor on Tuesday following the withdrawal of most U.N. personnel and the closure of the world body’s compound in Dili, the territorial capital. Virtually all relief workers, foreign journalists and international observers have left the territory.

The U.N. evacuation of 110 local and international staffers and 1,300 East Timorese civilians who had sought safety in the U.N. compound ended, for the time being, an ill-fated mission. The U.N. effort to organize and oversee a peaceful election was derailed by the anti-independence militias who have been running amok in East Timor, often with the active encouragement and involvement of Indonesian soldiers and police officers.

The evacuees were flown Tuesday to Darwin, Australia, about 500 miles southeast of Dili, in a fleet of Australian C-130 transports. They will live in a tent city until a peacekeeping force can provide the security for their safe return.

Only a dozen U.N. personnel remained in Dili on Tuesday night, led by a Bangladeshi brigadier general. They had abandoned the compound and were quartered in the Australian Consulate near the airport. Australia opened its consulate before the election and is the only country with diplomatic representation in Dili.

After the evacuation, the U.N. compound was looted by the Indonesian military, U.N. officials in New York said. Soldiers drove off with computers and office equipment and they smashed U.N. cars, the officials said.

“These were the very people we asked to secure the compound when the U.N. staff moved,” said Fred Eckhard, a U.N. spokesman.

U.N. staff also reported to the Security Council that Indonesian soldiers were hunting down pro-independence leaders among the refugees in Dili and the mountain village of Dare.

Ian Martin, chief of the U.N.’s mission in Dili, said upon reaching Darwin that a humanitarian disaster was taking shape in East Timor’s mountains, where tens of thousands of unarmed civilians fled to escape the marauding militias.

“There is a very large group of people with no access to food,” he said. “It is hard to overstate the urgency of bringing food to them.”

Australia hopes to begin an airlift of supplies Thursday. Indonesia says it will provide emergency aid to refugees who crossed the border into the neighboring province of West Timor but has no plans to help refugees in East Timor.

Lamb reported from Jakarta and Farley from the United Nations.