[Kabar-indonesia] Indo News - 10/19/05

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- Govt says polio cases found in Aceh and Riau
- Depression and hunger stalk tsunami survivors
- The Situation In Ambon / Moluccas – Report No. 489
- Sidney Jones: "The hardliners are called Thoifah Muqatilah"
- Radicals Target Moderate Muslims
- Criminal trail of rainforest timber unveiled by Greenpeace investigation
- E. Timor Border at 'Flashpoint'
- Feared E Timor Militia Rears Head
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The Jakarta Post.com
Headline News
October 19, 2005
Govt says polio cases found in Aceh and Riau
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has reported the discovery of polio cases in Riau and
tsunami-ravaged Aceh as it prepares to embark on a third vaccination drive
next month to fight the virus that has infected 269 children since it
resurfaced in March after a decade-long absence.

Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said on Tuesday that a 3-year-old
Acehnese boy had been found to be suffering from the disease, the first
polio case since the recent outbreak to be discovered in Aceh, which is
still struggling to recover from the devastating impact of the Dec. 26
tsunami.

"He had not received all his vaccinations," she told a press conference,
adding that health services in Aceh had yet to return to normal since the
disaster.

Although the boy lives in a village in East Aceh District, which was not
affected by the disaster zone, health officials voiced concern over a
possible resurgence of polio in Aceh as tens of thousands of people were
still living in refugee camps.

Another case had also been found in Riau, an oil-rich province also
located on Sumatra Island, Siti said, but did not provide details.

Siti said that it was hoped that the third round of the vaccination drive
would reach more children as Indonesia had set a polio-free target date of
2008.

The ministry's director general of disease control, I Nyoman Kandun, said
that the government had yet to decide whether the third round of the drive
would cover under-fives nationwide or in certain high-risk areas only.

"We will make a detailed plan soon," he said.

Indonesia has staged two rounds of the polio vaccination drive so far --
the first in August and the second in September.

Siti said that the next round of the drive would likely be held on Nov.
27. The cost of the drive is estimated at US$12 million, more than 60
percent of which will be covered by foreign assistance.

Around 97 percent of the 23.4 million children targeted in the second
round of the drive in September had been vaccinated, the minister said.

In the first round of the campaign, the government reached approximately
22.2 million children, or 95 percent of those targeted.

The government will pay special attention this time around to a number of
provinces, such as North Maluku, Papua and West Irian Jaya as the first
two rounds had managed to reach less than 90 percent of the targeted
children in these areas, Siti said.

A third-round vaccination drive has been recommended by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).

"We are by no means at the end of this outbreak. While we have done a good
job ... there's still more work to be done," said David Hipgrave, a UNICEF
health official in Indonesia, as quoted by AFP.

The water-borne virus spread to 35 regencies in 10 of the country's total
of 32 provinces at a speed that has raised international concern that the
disease could spread to neighboring countries unless the necessary
measures are taken.

The latest outbreak is said to be genetically linked to the virus
circulating in Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The authorities believe that
it was brought to Indonesia by migrant workers, pilgrims or travelers.

The virus attacks and withers children's limbs and can be deadly. The WHO
says 19 countries have been reinfected with polio in the last two years.
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Depression and hunger stalk tsunami survivors
Wed 19 Oct 2005
By Bill Tarrant - Reuters

Putri’s baby is big. At 4 kg (8.8 lb), baby Angi is, in fact, huge by the
natal standards of Indonesia — all the more remarkable since her mother
has been living in a grim tsunami survivors’ camp throughout her
pregnancy.

Born on September 23, Angi is the first known baby conceived and born
after the December 26th tsunami that killed more than 170,000 people and
left half a million homeless in Indonesia’s Aceh province on the tip of
northern Sumatra.

Angi, who is being bottle-fed because her mother’s tsunami rations do not
give her the strength to breast-feed, owes her robust health, at least in
part, to a health clinic the children’s aid group Plan International set
up in her village.

Putri received vitamins, nutrient supplements and pre-natal care from the
clinic during her pregnancy. A Plan-trained midwife delivered Angi in the
military-style barracks camp Putri’s family shares with scores of others.
Plan says it has set up at least 50 primary care units in tsunami-struck
villages and distributed supplementary nutrient packages to 160,000
children and pregnant women in Aceh. One of the great successes of the
tsunami relief effort was that a feared second wave of deaths from
diseases never happened.

Groups such as Unicef, Save the Children, Oxfam and Plan among others
moved quickly to set up clear water and sanitation systems in camps
housing more than a million tsunami survivors around the Indian Ocean rim.

Putri’s baby is a welcome addition to the fishing village of Lamteungoh,
where only 250 out of a population of around 3,000 survived the 10-metre
high tsunami. As in so many other villages, three to four times as many
women and girls than men were killed in Lamteungoh.

While baby Angi is fine, her parents are struggling. “Most pregnant women
here are anaemic so they need vitamin supplements,” said 27-year-old
midwife, Dassy Handayani. “They also need a lot of moral support. They get
depressed about raising their babies in tsunami camps.” The tsunami took
Putri’s eldest daughter, Arlisa Putri, 11. But two other daughters, Surya
Pertiwi, 6 and Sri Rejeki, 3, survived.

Putri clings to a notion that Arlisa somehow is still alive.

“I had a dream in the seventh month of my pregnancy that a white man found
her and took her back with him, a Canadian named Michael. I want to
believe this dream, but I’m not sure.” Life in the camps is undoubtedly
contributing to depression spawned by tsunami trauma and loss of family
members, homes and village life, aid officials said.

“Most of the cases we’re treating are either gastric, upper respiratory or
headaches,” said doctor Mira of the British-based Islamic Relief Agency.

“We have to do more research, but a lot of these cases seem to be
psychosomatic,” said Mira, who like many Indonesians uses one name. “Most
of the people are healthy but feel like they’re sick.”

The new United Nations Recovery Coordinator for Aceh, Eric Morris, said
moving the 67,500 people still living in tents into intermediate shelters
is the biggest priority, going into the rainy season.

“And probably conditions in some of those barracks are deteriorating, as
well,” Morris said in an interview.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is feeding around a half-million people in
Indonesia alone, including nearly 100,000 still living in tattered tents.
But the minimum rations of rice, cooking oil and canned fish distributed
once a month to tsunami camps were never meant to meet the full daily
nutritional needs of recipients. People in camps frequently complain that
for one reason or another they sometimes miss out on even that minimal
dole. “The WFP and NGOs have done an amazingly good job, but it is a
staple diet and people do need to diversify their diet,” Morris said.

Indonesia’s tsunami reconstruction chief said he has appealed to the WFP
to keep the food distribution programme through to the end of next year to
prevent malnutrition and related diseases.

“But should the WFP board not approve the request, or the international
community not fund it, Aceh will go back to facing a humanitarian disaster
of immense proportions,” Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, head of Aceh’s
Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR), said in an interview.

“There is a perception that the emergency conditions have passed because
we’re now in the reconstruction phase. This is wrong. The problems are so
great, the humanitarian needs are so immense, that the emergency
continues.” More than 232,000 people were killed or left missing across a
dozen Indian Ocean nations after a 9.15 magnitude earthquake, the
strongest in four decades, unleashed the most devastating tsunami on
record.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Crisis Centre Diocese Of Amboina
Jalan Pattimura 32 - Ambon 97124 - Indonesia
Tel 0062 (0)911 342195   Fax 0062 (0)911 355337
E-mail crisiscentre01 at hotmail.com

Ambon, October 20, 2005
The Situation In Ambon / Moluccas – Report No. 489

1. Muslim Community Supports Protestant Church Activities – The month of
Ramadhan is for the Muslims not only a period of fasting, but also a time
of reconciliation and social activities. Thus the Muslim community of
Ambon recently assisted the Protestant Church of the Moluccas (GPM) in
preparing two important events, namely the meeting of the Plenary Assembly
of the GPM Board (“Badan Pekerja Lengkap GPM”), which was held 16-19
October, and the 35th GPM Synod which is scheduled to take place 23-30
October 2005.

2. Muslims in Ambon feel free to have their Ramadhan Undisturbed – Thanks
to the increasing intermingling and improving mutual understanding of
Christians and Muslims in Ambon, the latter confess not to feel threatened
any more like the years before in having their Ramadhan month. Thus since
3, 4 or 5 October they wholeheartedly indulge in all celebrations that are
available to them according to Muslim tradition.

3. Travel Advice from the Australian Government – On 19 October 2005, the
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade issued a travel advice to
Australians i.e. to defer non-essential travel to Indonesia, including
Bali. Those who consider their presence in Indonesia to be essential,
should exercise extreme caution. Australians, too, are advised to avoid
all travel to Aceh and Maluku province, particularly Ambon, due to the
unstable security situation and risk of terrorist attack. Australians in
Aceh and Maluku should depart. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
in Caberra may be contacted on (02) 6261 3305.

C.J. Böhm msc
Crisis Centre Diocese of Amboina
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tempo Magazine (via Joyo Indonesia News)
No. 07/VI
Oct 18-24, 2005
Interview
Sidney Jones: "The hardliners are called Thoifah Muqatilah"

TRACKING down terrorist networks in Indonesia is nothing new to Sydney
Jones, director of the International Crisis Group in Indonesia. She
released a paper titled, "Al Qaeda in Southeast Asia: the Case of the
Ngruki Network in Indonesia", in August 2002, two months before bombs
devastated Legian, on the Island of Bali. Then she researched and came up
with a report (in Indonesian) "Terror Networks in Indonesia: How Jamaah
Islamiyah Operates". Just two weeks before the second Bali bombing
occurred, Sydney had just completed, "The Changing Face of Terrorism in
Indonesia", a six-page research paper commissioned by the Australian
Strategic Policy Institute.

In her paper, Sydney, 53, expounds on the emergence of a new generation of
terrorists called Thoifah Muqatilah, recruited and trained by Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI) top figures like Noordin M. Top, Azahari and Zulkarnaen.

Sydney's views on JI are indeed controversial. Many believe her, but
others are critical of her conclusions. Last year she was expelled from
Indonesia, reportedly for leaking state secrets. But a few months later,
she was allowed back in Indonesia.

On Wednesday, two weeks ago, Sydney shared her views with journalists at
the Tempo office on topics such as the second Bali bombing and the Jamaah
Islamiyah movement. Excerpts:

What is the status of terrorist networks in Indonesia today?

Jamaah Islamiyah is far weaker today than three years ago. There used to
be four Mantiqis. Mantiqi I in Malaysia and Singapore is almost destroyed.
The leadership of Mantiqi III, covering Sulawesi and around East
Kalimantan, has broken up, although there are still members in Poso,
Central Sulawesi and Mindanao, southern Philippines. It is also possible
that Mantiqi IV in Australia may no longer exist. Meanwhile, Mantiqi II
(Sumatra and Java), which represents the majority of Jamaah Islamiyah, is
seriously split.

How serious is the split?

Many JI members actually reject bombings. They see people like Hambali and
his followers as deviating from JI's true objectives. They regard all
bombings, from those that were exploded on Christmas Eve a few years back
to the recent one in Bali a few weeks ago, as having destroyed the
organization. The anti-Hambali people criticize Abu Bakar Ba'asyir because
he seems reluctant to punish Hambali. But there are others who disagree
with this viewpoint. One group rejects the bombings but is reluctant to
bring in the perpetrators to the police. Another group thinks it's time to
destroy the organization and then report them to the police. (Abu Bakar
Ba'asyir has repeatedly denied his role in any terrorist activity. "I am
always linked to many case, including the Bali bombing," he said. He said
his relations with Hambali, who used to be his neighbor at Sungai Manggis
in Malaysia, only involved missionary activities-Ed.)

When did the split begin?

Since 1999, there were already differences of opinion between Hambali and
people who preferred structure. They regarded Hambali as acting beyond
their objectives.

What is the position of the hardliners within this organization?

That's what we don't know for sure, whether they have officially quit or
whether they have remained as a very militant wing.

You mentioned the emergence of a new generation. Who are they?

Three or four months ago, one of the very radical groups returned to the
fore. I understand they call themselves Thoifah Muqatilah. They are trying
to re-establish the Laskar Khos, which had broken up because many of them
were arrested. Their existence is to form the suicide bombers brigade.
There were indications that a few months ago, they were already planning a
number of operations. But I don't know where and who they all are.
According to Nassir Abbas (head of Mantiqi III-Ed.), the name Thoifah
Muqatilah has been around since the first Bali bombing

What is the role of Azahari and Noordin in this new organization?

We don't know for sure. They can either be the founders or the leaders. We
think Zulkarnaen, who used to be the JI military commander, is recruiting
young men to join Thoifah. Their concept is still unclear. What is
certain, this group exists and they are involved.

Are they really the new generation?

That could be the case, if we consider Noordin and Azahari as the first
generation of JI. The new recruits are considered as the second generation
because they are much younger. They study at JI schools or pesantren
(Islamic boarding schools), around 18 of them. One is an important
university in Solo, Central Java. When they want to contact each other,
they get in touch with someone at the university, which is also the JI
headquarters in Central Java. This place is really important because it is
mentioned in the investigation records (of those arrested-Ed.)

Where are these 18 schools located?

Most of them are in Java and Lombok. Some are in Lampung and on the border
between Aceh and North Sumatra.

How exactly are these schools involved?

We notice that the children of JI leaders are sent to these schools.
There, the best graduates are selected to take part in a special work
program for about a year. Out of a school with 30 students, two or three
would be invited. As members of the JI organization, they are paid and
receive proper JI supervision and training. Their fate in five years' time
will depend on the situation in Indonesia and the world, and the emergence
of local political parties.

Would they be considered hardline JI or moderates?

They can be both. They usually enter through involvement in missionary
programs, but their aim is still to establish an Islamic state, albeit not
all resort to criminal activities.

Do the second Bali bombers come from this Thoifah Muqatilah?

They are possibly members of Thoifah but we don't know for sure. We know
that their activities tend to lead towards some kind of operation, but
where and when we can never tell. If there were indications that it would
happen in Bali, the embassies would have issued travel warnings. But this
time, there were no warnings at all. We will have to wait for what the
police investigation uncovers.

Were there signs that the second Bali bombing was the work of Azahari and
Noordin?

Suspicion certainly points at Noordin, Azahari and other groups. I can't
tell for sure whether this is the group from Banten or from other areas.
But I would be very surprised if it turns out that they were players
outside of this group of jihadists. There is an impression that the second
Bali bombing was not a focused operation.

Unlike the first Bali bombing, most of the targets were not expatriates.

It's possible they came to Bali with little time to do any kind of survey.
My guess is that their targets in Bali would always comprise some
expatriates victims. That's why people say this second Bali bombing is not
as devastating as the Kuningan bomb. Not sensational enough.

Why was the method different? For example, they didn't use cars.

They calculated that car bombs were easily traced by forensic experts. At
Tentena (Central Sulawesi-Ed.), they didn't use a car bomb, and till today
we don't know who did it.

Are there links between terrorists in Indonesia and those overseas, like
in London?

I don't see any links. What happened in London, UK last July, was that
they succeeded in making that country tremble. I think they want to do the
same in Bali, that is by using backpacks and going inside restaurants. But
I doubt there are any direct links. What happened in Indonesia was 100
percent independent.

How are their relations with Al Qaeda?

I don't think there are links with Indonesia. I think it would be a
mistake to look at JI as Al Qaeda in Asia. There might have been close
links when Hambali was active and used to go back and forth between
Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

At that time there were Al Qaeda people who came to Indonesia. But that
was two years ago.

What about their sources of funding?

For their everyday activities, they get their funds from their members'
dues. They also get contributions from sympathetic corporations.
Meanwhile, for each bombing operation, there seems to be a huge amount of
funds from outside. We know that for the first Bali bombing, about
US$35,000 may have come from Al Qaeda. Before the Marriott bombing, some
A$10,000 was suddenly deposited in their accounts. Even so, this doesn't
mean the money came from Australia. Money can be moved in any currency.
For the Kuningan bombing, the amount I heard was A$9,700 in cash. With
regards to the latest case, investigations indicate that the funding was
much lower and that was a total of US$700.

Back to the anti-Hambali faction. Who are they?

This group is not necessarily a benign bunch. Their goal is an Islamic
state in Indonesia, but it needs to be built from a secure base, a qoidah
aminah where Islamic law can be fully applied. Not only is there not yet
any such place in Indonesia, but if there were, JI leaders believe it
would encounter resistance from the Indonesian government or from
non-Muslims. They thus believe they have to acquire the military capacity
to protect themselves in the short term, as well as to eventually take on
the Indonesian state 25 or 30 years down the road.

At this point, have they joined any formal organization or political party?

They previously wanted to make Poso as the first wing block to expand
their influence. But they have not achieved this yet.

So till now they have been using JI?

There are groups other than JI in Indonesia. There is the Banten ring, a
part of the KW 9 (Kartosuwiryo, conceiver of the Indonesian Islamic State
concept-Ed.), a splinter group of the Darul Islam.

What's the role of this Banten ring?

There are at least two or three KW 9 splinter groups. One of them is Abu
Totok. I can't see a clear connection between the Abu Totok group or Panji
Gumilang (leader of the Al-Zaytun pesantren at Indramayu, West Java) and
other terrorist groups. Maybe sooner or later they will meet, but it's not
happening yet. The role of the Banten ring emerged after the name Iqbal
was identified as one of the perpetrators of the first Bali bombing.
(Panji Gumilang, in an interview with Tempo a few years back, denied he or
his pesantren was involved in violent activities-Ed.)

What about the Kuningan bombing?

The Kuningan bombing was clearly the act of Rois alias Iwan Darmawan from
Bandung and his friends. They are all members of the Banten ring, which
met the JI at Poso. Some Banten people got to know JI through Imam
Samudra. There relations became closer at the JI training camp in Poso. I
obtained information that when Azahari needed people to bomb Kuningan, he
came to one of the JI members. He was introduced to Rois, whom they met at
Poso (Tempo sources also mention Azahari as knowing Rois since the
training days in the Philippines, in 1997-Ed.).

Are there really new groups?

Yes. A number of different groups have emerged from the DI, JI and perhaps
remnants of the Laskar Jundullah at Poso and Makassar. This does not
include regional groups like the Mujahidin Kayamanya, or groups in Ambon.
Their numbers are small. How they are interlinked is not easy to explain.
For example, members of the Mujahidin Kayamanya, which took its name from
a village in Poso, took part in the attack at Seram last May. They came
from Solo. I see the involvement of an NGO here, but I must keep its name
off the record. When the Ambon conflict broke out, this NGO helped to
disburse funds for the training of mujahidin by JI instructors. Later they
became the go-betweens in a complicated structure between the JI, Darul
Islam and other groups.

How does this network operate?

When they plan operations, they can use personal contact through this NGO
member, without going through organizations. For example, if according to
Noordin and Zahari, the Thoifah Muqatilah members need training, they
could do it elsewhere.

What about the Sumatra group?

We don't have enough information on the structure of groups over here. In
Serang, for example, of the eight people involved in the attack, there was
a member of the Riau DI. The problem is that in Riau, one can find the DI
and the JI as well, so it is unclear to which organization they should be
affiliated to. Lampung remains the JI base in Sumatra. But there are cells
there too. Meanwhile in Bengkulu, there is a Ngruki graduate who is
building a foundation there.

sidebar: Sidney Jones
Date of Birth: May 31, 1952

Education:
* Oriental Studies and International Relations, University of
Pennsylvania, USA
* Pahlevi University, Shiraz, Iran

Career:
* Ford Foundation, Jakarta and New York (1977-1984)
* Researcher, Amnesty International on Indonesia and the Philippines
(1984-1988)
* Director, Asia Human Rights Watch (1988-2002)
* Indonesia Director, International Crisis Group (May 2002-to date)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Courier Mail
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Radicals Target Moderate Muslims
Marianne Kearney in Jakarta

Terrorists associated with Bali bomber Noordin Mohammad Top planned to
kill the leader of a modernist Muslim organisation accused of insulting
Islam, in a sign that moderate Muslims are increasingly under attack from
radicals.

Abdullah Sonata, arrested in July after he sent 10 youths to the southern
Philippines for jihad training, admitted to police he had contracted a man
to carry out the execution of Ulil Absha Abdalla earlier this year,
leading Indonesian magazine Tempo said.

Mr Abdalla heads the Islamic Liberal Network, a group of Muslim
intellectuals that promotes modern interpretations of the Koran.

Sonata was prompted to try to execute Mr Abdalla after a group of
radicals, the Forum for Islamic Clerics, issued a death sentence for Mr
Abdalla in response to his article "Rejuvenating Islamic thinking" last
year.

However Iqbal Husaini, the 24-year-old contracted to carry out the
killing, declined to do so after he heard a cleric in a Jakarta mosque
preach that only the state could carry out executions, not individuals.

Sonata, a 27-year-old, was part of the "new generation" of terrorists, a
police source told Tempo.

He allegedly built up a group of 18 freelance jihadists, many of whom had
received training in the Philippines with the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front, and raised $21,000 from an Arab associate to buy guns from
Dulmatin, a Bali bombing fugitive hiding in the southern Philippines.

Police had detained the 18 freelance jihadists but were still
investigating whether there were other militants on the run, Tempo said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Criminal trail of rainforest timber unveiled by Greenpeace investigation
-- Protestors use illegal rainforest timber to block entrance to UK
Government's environment department
By: Greenpeace
Published: October 19, 2005 at 07:56

A criminal trail of illegally logged timber from the world's last
rainforests, which is 'laundered' in China before arriving in Europe, the
USA and other consumer countries, has been uncovered by a major Greenpeace
investigation.

Shortly after 7.30am this morning, Greenpeace activists blockaded
government offices in London in protest. The activists dumped over a tonne
of plywood secured with large chains over the entrance to DEFRA, the UK
Government's department responsible for the environment. Two activists
chained themselves to the plywood to prevent it being removed, and
climbers scaled the outside of the building and secured a banner reading
'Ban Illegal Timber'.

"Governments around the world have known about this problem for years and
they've done absolutely nothing about it. Illegally logged timber products
from the world's last rainforests are sold openly around the world. This
criminal trade must be prohibited immediately," said Phil Aikman,
Greenpeace International forests campaigner.

Greenpeace has found that timber from the rainforests of Papua New Guinea,
Indonesia and Gabon is routinely logged illegally, shipped to China and
transformed into plywood before being exported around the world. Many of
the companies that log the tropical timber are known to be involved in
criminal activities. In Papua New Guinea, for example, the logging
industry is dominated by Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau, a company
that has been directly linked not only to environmental destruction, but
also to human rights abuses including torture and rape.
"China is by far the largest importer of rainforest destruction in the
world," said Aikman. "For every ten tropical logs shipped from the world's
threatened rainforests, five are destined for China."

A new report, Partners in Crime, published by Greenpeace UK, explains the
14,000 mile journey taken by illegally logged timber from Papua New
Guinea, home to animals and plants found nowhere else on the planet. This
timber was traced back to UK ports, building sites and builders' merchants
via the processing mills of China, where it is transformed into plywood
and then exported to markets around the world. US owned 'Wolseley', the
world's largest heating and plumbing company, is one of those identified
selling such products in the UK.

Illegally logged rainforest timber was found at Chinese plywood mills
destined for several other European destinations. Rainforest timber from
Gabon, home to some of Africa's last great apes, was found marked for
export to the USA.

Greenpeace is calling on governments to introduce legislation to ban the
import of illegal timber and to support sustainable forest management
globally.

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization, which uses
non-violent, creative communication tools to put the spotlight on global
environmental problems, and to drive towards solutions essential for a
green and peaceful future.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Australian
Thursday, October 20, 2005
E. Timor Border at 'Flashpoint'
By Mark Dodd

A mob backed by Indonesian troops has crossed into East Timor, attacked a
border patrol and set fire to buildings, threatening the fragile peace
between the two nations.

The incident on Saturday in the Oecussi enclave, detailed in a UN cable
seen by The Australian, poses a nightmare scenario for Canberra.

The cable - sent on Monday by UN chief in East Timor Sukehiro Hasegawa to
head of peacekeeping operations Jean Marie Guehenno in New York - accuses
the Indonesian military (TNI) of provoking multiple border violations in
Oecussi.

Mr Hasegawa warns Dili has threatened to pull out of the East
Timor-Indonesia Truth and Friendship Commission, following the collapse of
tense border takes because of Jakarta's failure to stop incursions by the
feared "Okto" militia that started at the beginning of the month.

He expressed grave concern at the prospects of an escalation in violence
after the breakdown in the talks, aimed at securing an agreement on a
border demarcation for the enclave.

On Saturday, two East Timorese police were wounded and forced to fire 15
warning shots after they were attacked by a mob of 200 Indonesian
villagers, armed with stones and improvised weapons, who had advanced
almost 1km across the border from Manusasi.

"Seven TNI soldiers were seen at the rear of the group, clearly condoning,
if not encouraging, this action," he says.

Mr Hasegawa says he received a telephone call from East Timorese Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos Horta threatening to pull out of the CTF. "Horta did
not hide his anger as he found arrogance and intransigence in the
behaviour of some TNI elements and inability of the government to control
them."

Opposed by the Catholic Church and unpopular with the East Timorese
populace, the CTF commits the two countries to co-operate in the
investigation of the mayhem before and after the 1999 UN-backed
independence referendum.

Diplomatic sources told The Australian that if Dili withdrew from the TCF,
relations between East Timor and Indonesia could plunge into crisis.

Mr Hasegawa warns the border is at flashpoint, saying Jakarta has deployed
the notorious Battalion 745 - implicated in the 1999 murder of church
workers and Dutch journalist Sander Thoenes - on garrison duty along the
West Timor frontier.

The Australian yesterday reported on a cable sent by Mr Hasegawa last
Wednesday in which he reports violent border incursions on October 4 and 9
by the "Okto" militia.

This is most likely the militia led by Moko Soares, who took part in the
massacre of 47 East Timorese men at Passabe in 1999 and is believed
responsible for several gun battles with Australian peacekeepers in
Oecussi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Australian
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Feared E Timor Militia Rears Head
Mark Dodd

A once feared pro-Indonesian militia has resurfaced in East Timor,
provoking new violence and border tension in the vulnerable Oecussi
enclave.

A coded UN cable dated October 12, which has been obtained by The
Australian, identifies the "Okto" militia as being responsible for the
suspension of tense border talks with Indonesia.

"A PNTL (East Timor police) film footage identified uncontrolled people in
the area, including a militia by the name of Okto," said UN East Timor
head Sukehiro Hasegawa in a cable to under-secretary-general for
peacekeeping Jean Marie Guehenno in New York.

Acting on a request from East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao, Mr
Hasegawa said he had travelled to the border village of Passabe to broker
talks, which were aimed at "reducing rising tensions caused by incidents
of violence in areas of the Oecussi border".

A "detailed briefing" from the East Timorese leadership had earlier raised
concerns that Indonesian border troops showed "reluctance" to take
preventative measures to stop a number of recent violent incidents, he
said.

On October 4, East Timorese police fired warning shots to disperse a mob
of Indonesians who had crossed 500m into the enclave near the villages of
Nazacusse, Oemeno, Kobe and Suco Bobometo, Mr Hasegawa wrote. Five days
later, Indonesian border troops stood by as a mob of machete-wielding
militia set fire to crops.

Jakarta claims all West Timor-based anti-independence militias have been
disbanded.

The militias were responsible for a wave of violence in the lead-up to and
weeks following the historic UN-backed autonomy ballot in 1999.

Stunned by the landslide no vote, the militias laid waste to towns and
villages, killing more than 1500 people and driving more than 300,000 over
East Timor's western border into Indonesian West Timor.