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Indonesia: on the threshold of many events |
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September 24, 2000
ATAMBUA, Indonesia (AP) - Militias surrendered hundreds of weapons in violence-wracked West Timor Saturday, but Indonesia's president accused security forces of not cracking down hard enough on the gangs that recently killed three U.N. aid workers. One of the first weapons handover took place at a small police station in the town of Atambua near the border with East Timor, where militia gangs hacked three U.N. staff members to death in a riot on Sept. 6. About a dozen gang members gave up seven automatic rifles, nine grenade launchers, 485 homemade guns, four grenades and 687 rounds of ammunition. "More weapons will come in over the next few days," said Supt. Simatubang as his officers placed the arms in white canvas bags and locked them away. "We are going to receive all of them." Security forces have called on militias to surrender their arms voluntarily before Tuesday or have them confiscated by force. But opponents are skeptical that the gangs will be made to give up all their arms. The savage killings of the three U.N. workers have focused world attention on the continuing violence in West Timor and has placed President Abdurrahman Wahid under intense pressure. In the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, Saturday Wahid installed a new police chief and ordered him to take tougher action. Clearly frustrated that not enough is being done, he warned that U.S. and U.N. forces might intervene in West Timor unless order is restored and the militias disbanded. "There are rumors that 800 U.S. Marines are ready to be sent to Atambua to help guard the U.N. people," he said. U.S. Embassy officials in Jakarta denied the existence of any such plan. Last week, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen warned that economic sanctions might be imposed if Indonesia does not fix the security problems in West Timor. The militias are the same gangs that devastated neighboring East Timor after it voted to break free of Indonesian rule last year. Gang members later fled to Indonesian West Timor where they have operated with impunity. Many claim that the militias are being covertly backed by elements within Indonesia's army and are preventing 120,000 refugees in the camps from returning to East Timor, now under temporary U.N. administration. On Saturday, Wahid accused the security forces in West Timor of wrongly releasing six suspects accused in the slayings of the U.N. workers, an American, a Croat and an Ethiopian. West Timor's militia problem is one of several crises swamping Wahid, an almost blind Muslim scholar, who came to power 11 months ago. His plans for democratic reform have been largely derailed by rising violence. Jakarta has been rocked by a spate of unexplained bombings in recent weeks. Many suspect supporters of ex-dictator Suharto are responsible for the blasts that have coincided with major developments in a corruption case being brought against the 79-year-old former president. Suharto has refused to attend the start of his trial on the grounds of ill health. His lawyers have denied any link to the bombings. On Saturday, he underwent a 10-hour court-ordered medical examination to determine whether he is fit to stand trial amid defense claims that three strokes have left him frail and mentally confused. Doctors are schedule to report their findings to a five-judge panel on Thursday. Wahid is also trying to contain bloody separatist and sectarian violence that has killed thousands in recent years across several trouble spots in Indonesia, a nation of 17,000 islands. In eastern Maluku, or Moluccan, province, two people were killed Saturday in a clash between Muslims and Christians. |
