[Kabar-indonesia] Australia starts troop drawdown from East Timor [+ETAN]

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also: Help ETAN Support E. Timor

Australia starts troop drawdown from East Timor

CANBERRA, Aug. 3 (Reuters) - Australia has begun the gradual withdrawal of 
troops from East Timor as the troubled nation stabilises after violent clashes 
three months ago, Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said on Thursday. 

Australia led an international force of more than 3,000 troops to restore 
peace in Asia's newest state after at least 20 people were killed in violent 
clashes and arson attacks. 

"In the two months since they deployed, the streets of Dili have been 
transformed from chaos to relative calm with business beginning to return to normal," 
Nelson said in a statement. 

"As the security situation continues to improve and the focus moves more to 
police operations, elements of the military force that were essential in the 
initial deployment will return to Australia," Nelson said in a statement. 

Tiny East Timor plunged into political crisis nearly three months ago when 
former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri dismissed around 600 troops after they 
protested against discrimination. 

East Timor has asked the United Nations to deploy more than 800 police to 
help with long-term security after the crisis. 
 
Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal all sent troops and police to 
help stabilise East Timor. At the height of the operations, Australia had about 
3,000 defence personnel deployed, including navy ships and army helicopters. 

Over the past two weeks, Australia has withdrawn a troop supply ship from 
East Timor, as well as three army Blackhawk helicopters. 

Nelson said about 23 armoured personnel carries, infantry troops and 
logistics staff will also return to Australia in the coming weeks. The department said 
that would leave about 2,000 soldiers in East Timor. 

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has said he hopes U.N.-led police and 
troops can join the Australian-led forces in six months and eventually take over 
the peacekeeping operations. 
     
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Dear Friends of East Timor, 

“We need your solidarity now as much as ever!” Every day, we hearthis from 
friends in East Timor. 

Four years after achieving independence, Timor-Leste (East Timor) is again in 
the headlines. Most of the population of Dili, the capital, have fled to 
rural areas or emergency safe zones. Dissatisfied soldiers and rifts between the 
military and police caused long-submerged political and economic tensions to 
surface, manifesting as violence and chaos as gangs of unemployed young men 
looted and burned hundreds of houses across Dili. Foreign troops have arrived, 
invited by East Timor’s government, and political pressure has pushed out Mari 
Alkatiri and brought in Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta as the nation’s Prime 
Minister. At thegrassroots, tension, fear and violence loom.

Is the UN's "poster child" becoming a failed state? Is thepoorest 
country in Asia in danger of losing the independence, democracy and peace that 
its people achieved after decades of struggle?

As activists who have spent many years in East Timor between 1999 and today, 
with close communication with many people there, we know that the situation is 
complex. Both of us work with La’o Hamutuk, an East Timorese NGO which has 
analyzed the role of international institutions in East Timor for the past six 
years, and we understand how failures of those institutions, magnified by 
problems within Timorese society and weak political and economic structures, have 
led to the current crisis. Massive unemployment, historical memories, military 
schisms, regional conflicts, governance failures, a climate of impunity, 
post-traumatic stress, misdirected international "aid" and misguided 
UNdecisions all play a role. The breakdown was predictable, but it can beresolved.

Since 1991, ETAN has addressed key underlying causes of the currentcrisis. 
Our work today is as critical as it was before the 1999 votefor independence.

ETAN continues its work for justice for crimes against humanitycommitted by 
the Indonesian military in East Timor. To date, virtually no Indonesian has 
been punished for crimes committed in East Timor. Impunity for past crimes leads 
to a sense that current crimes will also go unpunished and encourages 
vigilante justice; accountability, is anessential element of lasting peace. 

ETAN continues to work for East Timor’s economic independence.Australia's 
defiance of international law on maritime boundaries is robbing East Timor of 
billions of dollars of revenue from the Timor Sea oil and gas reserves. This 
money is critical for the new country's current and future economic and social 
stability. “Free market” economic policies adopted at the urging of the World 
Bank and the U.S. government curtail public sector employment and government 
services, contributing to the large number of alienated, unemployed youth. 

ETAN has always supported East Timorese grassroots organizationsworking for 
peace, human rights and democracy. These organizations need our support more 
than ever. Filomena dos Reis, a strong activist ETAN has worked with for years, 
has said, “Twenty-four years we fought for our freedom. I still have hope: to 
develop the future of this country and live in peace.”

As East Timor deals with a political, economic and humanitarian crisis,ETAN 
must continue its important work. Help us to make our solidarityresponse as 
strong as possible. Please make a generous contribution to ETAN today so that we 
can continue our critical education and advocacywork in the United States and 
at the United Nations.

Please join us and hundreds of others who care about the future of East Timor 
by making a contribution to ETAN today. To make a secure donationonline, go to
<A HREF="http://www.etan.org/etan/2006bappl.htm">
http://www.etan.org/etan/2006bappl.htm</A>.

You can write a check to “ETAN/U.S.” in support of its political 
advocacywork, or make a tax-deductible donation of over $50 to “A.J. Muste Memorial 
Institute/ETAN,” which supports ETAN’s educational efforts.Please mail donations 
to: ETAN, PO Box 15774, Washington, DC 20003.

Thank you for your support.

In solidarity,
Pamela Sexton
Charles Scheiner

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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