Peace force allowed to cross border

DILI, SEPT 30: Amidst reports of a militia build up in West Timor, Australia on Wednesday disclosed that international peacekeepers in Ea...

DILI, SEPT 30: Amidst reports of a militia build up in West Timor, Australia on Wednesday disclosed that international peacekeepers in East Timor have the authority to cross the border if engaged in a battle with pro-Indonesian militias.

The statement was likely to further upset Jakarta, which has bristled over the foreign troops8217; aggressive style and told the United Nations not to send an international investigating team to look into alleged atrocities in East Timor because it will conduct its own probe.

International force commander Maj Gen Peter Cosgrove said he wasn8217;t thinking about cross-border conflict. quot;At the moment, I am only contemplating operations inside East Timor,quot; he said, adding, quot;the issue of hot pursuits is not one for now. It must be, if anything, inspired by events.quot;

Hundreds of thousands of East Timorese who fled a murderous militia rampage in East Timor went to West Timor; many reportedly were forced to do so. Access to refugee camps there has been severely limited, withallegations that the militias are conducting a campaign of intimidation.

Australian defence minister John Moore told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio that the peacekeepers would be allowed to cross briefly into West Timor if involved in a battle with the militias. So far, so such clashes have occurred.

quot;We have intelligence information that says that there are numbers there,quot; Moore said. quot;We don8217;t know what their intentions are, but we are prepared for any eventualities.quot;

A senior US defence official said on Wednesday that pro-Indonesia militias 8212; numbering between 2,000 and 4,000 8212; may be preparing to launch guerrilla raids on the peacekeepers.

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Meanwhile, a high-ranking East Timor rebel leader ventured into East Timor8217;s capital on Thursday for the first time in three years to discuss cooperation with international force, including joint patrols.

Cornelio Goma, Falintil8217;s second-in-command for the capital area, said his 500 fighters would keep their 100 weapons quot;all sorts of weapons,semi-automatics, old guns, new gunsquot; at their cantonment sites.