Indonesian President BJ Habibie has dismissed reports that he is losing his grip on power in the country. Speaking on British television he said he remains in control of the military despite reports that armed forces are involved in the killings in East Timor. President Habibie said that Indonesian forces in East Timor were doing their best to control the militias. This evening the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that the time had come for Indonesia to accept a peacekeeping force for East Timor. His comments followed President Clinton’s statement that it was clear that the Indonesian military was aiding and abetting the militia violence.
Speaking at the White House, President Clinton said that Indonesia must allow the international community to provide security in East Timor if it cannot halt the bloodshed. He also warned that Indonesia faced dire economic consequences if it failed to deal with the violence and made clear that future American financial help depended on its handling of the issue.
The United Nations is investigating reports that East Timorese independence supporters have been summarily executed in Indonesian West Timor. East Timor's spiritual leader, Bishop Carlos Belo, has urged the United Nations Security Council to act urgently to halt the "genocide" in the territory. The Bishop was speaking on a stopover in Lisbon while on his way to London. He said that international organisations, particularly the Security Council, must take action to "save whatever can be saved" in East Timor.
Pope John Paul has urged Indonesia and the international community to take steps to end the massacres perpetrated by pro-Jakarta militias in the region. The Pontiff called on the gunmen to abandon, what he called, their murderous intentions. In a statement sent to the Timorese people, he accused the militias of transforming hope into terror and said that there was no justification for what was going on. However, Indonesia's Economy Minister Gininja Katasismetre has accused the international community of not being even-handed in its treatment of Indonesia.
Heavy gunfire has been reported near the United Nations headquarters in Dili, as some Timorese refugees made a dash into the hills behind the compound. It was reported earlier that the car park of the compound had been broken into by militiamen. A journalist with the Sunday Times newspaper, Marie Colvin, had said that the militiamen had threatened to throw grenades into the compound. A Canadian policeman at the scene said that the gunmen had broken into the UN car park and had stolen cars. The reports follow the start of the evacuation of UN staff from the compound. The evacuees included two Gardaí. Two Irish military liaison offers are among a group of international military personnel still in the compound.
The first planeloads of UN evacuees landed in the north Australian city of Darwin early today. A spokesman did not indicate how many staff would remain to care for refugees in the main UN compound, but it is believed a United Nations presence will be maintained. The convoy of vehicles was escorted to the airport by the Indonesian army. Shots were fired at the convoy, but there are no reports of casualties.
Outside Dili thousands of people have been driven from their homes by the violence. The East Timor Nobel Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta, who is at the Asia Pacific Foreign Ministers meeting in New Zealand, again appealed for international intervention.
