Indonesia's military command in Jakarta and the local military commander in East Timor were at odds last night over whether the Australian general in charge of the UN intervention force would be allowed to travel to Dili today to arrange for his troops to deploy tomorrow.
The Ministry of Defence issued a statement in the Indonesian capital saying East Timor was ready to receive the multinational force mandated by the UN Security Council to end the violence in the former Portuguese colony. It added that an advance party was expected today.
However, shortly afterwards Maj Gen Kiki Syahnakri, head of a special martial law command for East Timor, said in Dili the UN mission chief, Australia's Maj Gen Peter Cosgrove, would not arrive today and that it was not clear if his team would arrive tomorrow.
The vice-chief of the Australian defence force, Air Marshal Doug Riding, told reporters in Manila the plan was for the first troops from the 8,000-strong force to land in East Timor tomorrow after a visit by Gen Cosgrove today. Troops from several countries have been gathering in Darwin in Northern Australia to deploy in East Timor and it was expected that 2,000 mainly Australian troops would be flown in tomorrow. The latest contingent to arrive in Darwin last night was a Portuguese army medical team which will provide a field hospital.
Yesterday reporters were taken to Robertson's Barracks outside Darwin to see British Army Gurkhas finalise their training in terrain similar to that in East Timor. Despite the prospects of a delay in deployment, the Indonesian commander in Dili said he would co-operate with the UN-sanctioned force and he claimed that troops were being withdrawn to Indonesia in significant numbers.
In four days up to 4,000 had left, he said, adding that the Indonesian military would retain a presence in the territory until further notice. The UN believes more than 20,000 police and troops remain. Maj Gen
Syahnakri also said that pro-Jakarta militiamen would be pushed to the western part of East Timor and the Dili-based Aitarak (Thorn) militia would be barred from the East Timor capital when the UN arrived.
The Australian Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, warned against any attacks by Indonesian troops on the International Force for East Timor (Interfet). "They must of course contemplate that if that were to occur, then that in turn would provoke a much stronger level of intervention and retaliation, including, I believe, stronger involvement by countries that are now giving important support but not massive support," he said.
Mr Howard's eyes filled with tears when he spoke on television with the mother of a soldier being sent to East Timor. Jakarta yesterday gave permission, a day later than scheduled, for airdrops of supplies to refugees in East Timor. Two Hercules aircraft carrying blankets and 40 tons of rice made several drops near the towns of Ermera and Manatuto yesterday, aid officials said. More flights will be made today to other areas where people are believed to be starving. "The drops appear to have gone well," said a spokesman for the Australian government's aid agency AusAid in Darwin.
Meanwhile, a strong racial element emerged yesterday in the bitter dispute between Indonesia and Australia over East Timor. Maj Gen Syahnakri warned that there was a lot of anger against "white people" in East Timor and said Indonesian security forces could not guarantee the safety of Caucasians. The most prominent militia leader, Mr Eurico Guterres, said in the town of Atambua: "We East Timorese are thirsty for the blood of white people."
This racism was evident on the border with West Timor where soldiers and militia allowed Indonesian-born reporters to enter East Timor but turned back Caucasian reporters trying to get to Dili.
Australia has closed its consulate in West Timor and offices in two other parts of Indonesia because of what an Australian embassy spokesman in Jakarta described as "the current situation".
Despite a relative calm in Dili yesterday, Red Cross officials said fresh blood on the streets showed attacks by pro-Jakarta forces had not stopped. Sporadic gunfire could be heard from the hills south of Dili, and smoke could be seen rising from the outskirts.
Irish Times reporters add:
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr David Andrews, yesterday announced that the Government will give a grant of £1 million to assist the people of East Timor.
Speaking from Los Angeles, where he is accompanying the President, Mrs Mary McAleese, on an official visit, Mr Andrews said: "We must continue to work with the rest of the international community to support the people of East Timor in whatever way we can.
In addition to our contribution to the multinational peace force, the Government has decided to contribute £1 million to meet the humanitarian and rehabilitation needs of the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced people in East Timor and those who have fled or have been forcibly removed from their homes to West Timor and other parts of Indonesia."
A mass in memory of those who have died in East Timor and those still suffering will be held at the Adam & Eve Church, Merchant's Quay in Dublin at 8 p.m. tonight. Organised by Trocaire, AfrI and the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, it will include readings and music from East Timorese students living in Ireland. The celebrant will be Father Brendan Forde.