---------------------------------------------------------- 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 ---------------------------------------------------------- Militia surrender arms in East Timor DILI, East Timor, Aug 16 (AFP) - A group of pro-Indonesia East Timorese militia surrendered hundreds of weapons Monday in the presence of a UN military officer, a United Nations spokesman said. The United Nations hopes the surrender in the town of Atebae, a two hour drive southwest of here, will be the first step towards total disarmament before the vote on East Timor's future, "He saw the weapons. We haven't got a final count. We were told 270," David Wimhurst, spokesman for the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), told AFP here. "These are mostly homemade pipe guns with a few more modern weapons," Wimhurst said. He added that the guns were placed in a storage facility which is secured by Indonesian police. UNAMET's top military liaison officer, General Rezaq Haider, met in Atabae with Joao Tavares, commander of militia forces in East Timor. Tavares told AFP that he had told Haider "that the militia who had carried these weapons would stay in that area." Similar handovers are set for Wednesday in the militia stronghold of Cassa and in Baucau and Dili on Thursday, Wimhurst said. He said the surrender was an initiative of the militias. "We view this as a positive development and it means that when this process is completed -- and Joao Tavares says all the militias will be handing in their weapons -- then any other people having arms in public will be able to be arrested by the police." The militia's action follows a move by the pro-independence Falintil guerrillas to move their forces into a handful of "cantonement" areas. Both moves are seen as steps toward disarmament ahead of the August 30 vote in which East Timorese are set to accept or reject an offer of broad autonomy under the Indonesian flag. The main stated concern to date of UNAMET, which is conducting the poll, has been militia violence, which has left scores dead since the start of the year. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 16 Aug 1999 jam 14:59:21 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
