---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- U.S. offered 15,000 troops for East Timor -report CANBERRA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - U.S. military officials told Australian defence strategists in June that Washington would consider deploying up to 15,000 troops to East Timor if bloodshed escalated there, an Australian newspaper reported on Tuesday. The Melbourne Age newspaper quoted a top-level diplomatic source as saying U.S. plans for East Timor included a massive deployment of U.S. troops, including marines, for peace-enforcement in the Jakarta-ruled territory. ``The U.S. officials made it clear that this contingency would apply in an extreme circumstance -- quickly stopping large-scale violence by Indonesia-backed militias,'' the newspaper said. It said U.S. military officials were factoring Darwin, in Australia's north, into their plans and they had sought an agreement to attach Australian military liaison officers to a possible peace enforcement mission. East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, will vote on August 30 to become independent or opt for special autonomy within Indonesia, which invaded the province in 1975 and annexed it a year later. Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer denied similar newspaper reports earlier this month. But he told parliament late on Monday that U.S. military officials had informally raised peace-enforcement in East Timor, asking if Australia would participate in such a force. ``Australian military officials apparently gave a non-committal response,'' Downer said. ``This was not a formal United States government request nor did it reflect United States government policy. I've been advised this was never subsequently raised with the Australian government nor as far as I know with the United States government itself.'' ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 10 Aug 1999 jam 03:00:48 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
