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Cohen warns Indonesia of diplomatic backlash over Timor |
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September 19, 2000
JAKARTA (AP) - Highlighting a growing diplomatic rift with Indonesia, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen warned President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday of possible economic sanctions unless army-sponsored militias are immediately disbanded on the divided island of Timor. Cohen said U.S. President Bill Clinton was "disappointed" that Jakarta had done little to rein in the thugs who killed an American and two other U.N. aid workers in West Timor on Sept. 6. "This is something that has to be addressed in the immediate future," Cohen told reporters. "The militias must be disarmed. They must be disbanded. They must be held accountable. That is something the (military) and the government must be dedicated to." Failure to do so "will have certainly some serious financial implications," said Cohen, who is on a six-nation Asian tour. His harsh message came just a month before Indonesia meets with aid donors in Tokyo to negotiate a new round of financing for the debt-ridden economy. The World Bank has already said the success of the meeting will depend upon Jakarta's ability to disband the militias in West Timor. The militias were set up last year by the Indonesian army - which occupied East Timor in 1975 - in order to intimidate voters into opting for continued union in a U.N.-sponsored referendum. The gangs went on a rampage of killing and burning when the plebiscite ended in an overwhelming vote for independence. With the arrival of international peacekeepers, they fled to Indonesian-held West Timor. The United Nations, which is administering East Timor during its transition to independence, says elements within the Indonesian security forces have trained and rearmed the bands that have started conducting cross-border raids in recent months. Two U.N. soldiers have died in clashes with infiltrators. When Wahid became Indonesia's first freely elected leader in 44 years in October, the Clinton administration was one of his most vocal supporters. He was hailed for early successes in reining in Indonesia's powerful generals, who had propped up the 32-year dictatorship of President Suharto. Suharto, like many Indonesians, uses only one name. Since then, however, he has consistently failed to deliver on promised economic and political reforms. He has further angered Washington by allowing army hard-liners to regain much of their influence. Although Wahid has promised to bring to justice those responsible for the attack on the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in the town of Atambua, in Indonesian West Timor, U.S. officials expressed frustration that nothing had been done so far. Wahid has blamed generals loyal to Suharto of fomenting the violence in West Timor. He also accused them of being behind a spate of unexplained bombings in Jakarta and elsewhere. He fired national police chief Gen. Rusdihardjo on Monday after police failed to carry out his order to arrest Suharto's youngest son, whom he linked a campaign to destabilize the government. During an hour-long meeting with Wahid, Cohen urged the president to deal with the militias and to repatriate an estimated 120,000 East Timorese refugees from camps in West Timor, Defense Minister Mohamad Mahfud said. Wahid said that although the militias have been disarmed, many concealed their weapons in jungles and mountains where it was difficult for the security forces to find them, according to Mahfud. At the close of his 24-hour visit, Cohen reiterated that U.S. aid to the Indonesian military - which the Clinton administration suspended last year - will not resume until the generals demonstrate their commitment to the rule of law. "Some forces in Indonesia seek to undermine (democratic) reforms through violence and terror," Cohen told reporters. "These destructive forces must not succeed."
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