350 more police are to be sent to East Timor
The Indonesian government has said that UN peacekeepers may be allowed into East Timor. Several hundred extra Indonesian troops have been sent to the island as violence continues following Monday's referendum on independence. The United Nations said that two of its officials in have been killed and another is presumed dead. The UN has voiced its fears for the safety of its staff, who are local Timoerse. It is thought that pro-Indonesian miltias armed with guns and machetes are deliberately targeting such people because of their presumed sympathy for independence.
Reports suggest that the militias have taken effective control of the territory's capital, Dili. Indonesian police and military units have so far failed to intervene. Thousands of people are preparing to flee the country. The result of Monday's referendum on independence is expected in the next few days.
At least six people are reported to have been killed in the latest clashes between hundreds of militiamen opposed to independence from Indonesia and separatists outside the United Nations compound in the capital Dili. A BBC correspondent said that foreign journalists were preparing to leave the territory because of the deteriorating security situation. Jonathan Head claimed that the militias were working with the Indonesian security forces. A spokesman for the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, said that the UN was concerned for the safety of its staff as well as the public.
