http://news.com.au/frame_loader.htm?/news_content/national_content/4347003.htm PEACEKEEPERS MAY SHOOT TO KILL By ROBERT GARRAN and staff reporters 15sep99 THE East Timor peace force, now almost certain to be led by Australia with the first units in place as early as tomorrow, will have orders to shoot to kill in what has become a much more dangerous mission than the Government expected. Acknowledging the dangers last night, John Howard warned Australians to expect casualties. His words came after a dramatic airlift by Australian and New Zealand air force transports ferried more than 1500 people to Darwin leaving behind a UN compound that was immediately torched by hostile forces in Dili. "There will be a danger, there could be casualties, and the Australian public must understand that. It is a serious, dangerous operation," the Prime Minister said. In a sign of the Government's confidence at being chosen by the UN to head the peace force, Defence Minister John Moore named Major-General Peter Cosgrove as Australia's choice to command the mission. If, as is hoped, the UN Security Council today authorises the deployment, the first Australian, New Zealand and British Gurkha troops, backed by US logistics and communications personnel, could land in Timor tomorrow, although delays are possible. Instead of an operation badged with the blue berets of UN peacekeepers, it is believed the force will engage in peace-enforcement operations, with orders to disarm and pacify hostile elements. Under proposed guidelines considered yesterday by federal Cabinet, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will today urge the UN to furnish rules of engagement that ensure soldiers the widest possible leeway, permitting them to shoot to kill if necessary. Mr Moore said 1517 East Timorese and 11 UN staff were evacuated from Dili to Darwin yesterday by 11 RAAF flights and one RNZAF flight. About 12 UN staff remained in East Timor, moving from the UNAMET compound to the vacant Australian consulate in Dili, which was considered safer. Soon after they left, smoke was seen rising from the compound that had sheltered upwards of 2000 people for more than 10 days, indicating the militia had already begun destroying the building. Some ASEAN nations responded positively yesterday to the call for peacekeepers, with The Philippines volunteering to send a vanguard of up to two battalions, South Korea considering providing 300 anti-guerilla troops, and Singapore offering a possible volunteer force of medics, logistic support units and military observers. In New York, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas emerged from a briefing with the UN Security Council whose discussions will resume today, involving senior Australian and Portuguese ministers saying he had sought to impose no conditions on the make-up of the peace force, but had "preferences" for significant ASEAN participation. Asked if Australia was the only nation that could put troops on the ground almost immediately, Mr Alatas said: "I don't think only Australia has that ability. Australia has the troops ready and is perhaps the country that is in the best position to be there fastest. But I don't think even Australia claims it is the only country that can do it." In Queenstown, New Zealand, President Bill Clinton said the US could commit "a few hundred" people to provide logistical support. "This will be overwhelmingly an Asian force. But the US is ready to provide airlift, communications, intelligence, and related capabilities," Mr Clinton said. More than 2000 refugees now in Darwin will be granted temporary visas and moved to the same safe havens created earlier this year for the Albanian Kosovars, Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said. -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
