Pro-Indonesian militia threat to fragile Timor stability

For Indonesia, which is dependent on foreign money to stay afloat, the killings are a diplomatic disaster.

quot;This must be a turning point for the Indonesian Government and Indonesian military to bring the militias under control, to disarm them and restore law and order in West Timor8230;and stop the militias being a threat to East Timor,quot; Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Thursday.

Jakarta8217;s failure to disband the militias it created in a failed attempt to railroad East Timor into voting to be part of Indonesia, also underlines its lack of control over its own military.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has assured the United Nations and foreign governments that the militias will be shut down and the refugee camps serving as their safe havens will be closed.

But a year after East Timor voted to split from Indonesia, the militias operate unhindered, spreading violence throughout West Timor and into East Timor from camps housing more than 120,000 East Timorese refugees.

Some militiamen have given up and gone home. But the several thousand who remain are the hard core of the thugs who razed East Timor, killed hundreds and forced most of the population out of their homes.

Though their leaders are well known to the authorities and easily identifiable, they operate with impunity and have been stirring up violence throughout West Timor for months.

The United Nations has logged more than 100 militia attacks of varying degrees on its workers in West Timor since October.

quot;Things seem to be out of control, which is as dangerous for Indonesia as it is for us,quot; the head of the U N administration in East Timor, Sergio Vieira de Mello told Reuters last week.

quot;This represents a danger to both President Gus Dur8217;s Wahid8217;s policies of reform and democratisation, as they represent a threat to a smooth transition in this country, which is difficult enough without having these characters come back here to spread terror as they have in recent weeks.quot;

Exactly who is behind the militias is hard to determine.

Some analysts and diplomats believe they are supported by people allied to former President Suharto, intent on destabilising the country to deflect attention from graft charges against Suharto and his cronies.

Few seriously believe the armed forces as an institution continues to support the militias. But they cannot survive without the support of rogue officers in the police and army.

For the past few months, the militiamen have also been crossing the porous border into East Timor in larger numbers than at any time since foreign troops forced them out a year ago.

An estimated 120 militiamen have penetrated as far as central East Timor and concerns are growing that they will pose a major danger when the territory becomes independent and the United Nations administration leaves.

So far, they have shown little aggression, but their presence and the threat of future violence has scared several hundred villagers out of their homes and is preventing the stability needed to allow development to begin.

The United Nations and key countries such as Australia now say it is likely U N troops will have to stay on to help ensure security after the U N administration pulls out.

Peacekeepers have already killed and injured several militiamen in gun battles, and lost two of their own troops.

Despite their superior training and weapons, the almost 8,000-strong peacekeeping force is unable to rid East Timor of the militias completely.

Most of the militiamen are operating in small groups around their home villages in rugged and hostile country that protected pro-independence guerrillas before them from tens of thousands of Indonesian troops over more than 23 years.

Many in East Timor are now urging the United Nations to pull the former Falintil guerrillas out of their cantonment zone and put them with peacekeepers as guides.