---------------------------------------------------------- Visit Indonesia Daily News Online HomePage: http://www.indo-news.com/ Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ---------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press August 18, 1999 UN,Indonesia Representatives Visit E. Timor Violence Site DILI, Indonesia (AP)--The top U.N. and Indonesian representatives in East Timor visited three towns with serious security problems Wednesday, arriving in Maliana just after a student center was attacked and destroyed. Security has become the prime concern ahead of the Aug. 30 U.N.-supervised ballot that will give East Timor's people a choice between staying part of Indonesia as an autonomous region or full independence. Ian Martin, head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in East Timor, said the attack in Maliana followed "serious disorder" Tuesday night in Ritabou, just outside the town, and both involved pro-integration militiamen and pro-independence supporters. Martin said U.N. officials have not been able to get a clear account of what happened in Ritbou or Maliana. He said he could not confirm a report that one person was killed in Ritabou, but he told reporters there were injuries in the incidents. At U.N. headquarters in New York, deputy spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva said two students at the student center were seriously injured. Witnesses said at least four people were injured. Witnesses said anti-independence militiamen rampaged through Maliana, about 140 kilometers (80 miles) west of the East Timorese capital, Dili, and attacked an office operated by independence activists, a student dormitory, and a shelter for displaced villagers. Anti-independence militias are blamed for a wave of violence in recent months. Dozens of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands displaced. Indonesia occupied the former Portuguese colony in 1975 and East Timor has been wracked by guerrilla warfare and human rights abuses since then. Martin traveled by helicopter to Maliana, Viqueque and Suai with the chairman of the Indonesian Task Force in East Timor, Ambassador Agus Tarmidji, and senior Indonesian police officials, who are responsible for security in East Timor. The latest incidents come even though rival East Timorese factions signed a code of conduct that bans violence and threats during the campaign period. In all three towns, the U.N. and Indonesian representatives met with local police, military and administrators about "the additional measures that are necessary to get the security situation in hand," Martin said. "They have undertaken to strengthen the police presence" in the district and to discuss at senior level in Dili what additional action is necessary, he said. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 19 Aug 1999 jam 07:54:34 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
