ad info




TIME Asia
TIME Asia Home
Current Issue
Magazine Archive
Asia Buzz
Travel Watch
Web Features
  Entertainment
  Photo Essays

Subscribe to TIME
Customer Services
About Us
Write to TIME Asia

TIME.com
TIME Canada
TIME Europe
TIME Pacific
TIME Digital
Asiaweek
Latest CNN News

Young China
Olympics 2000
On The Road

 ASIAWEEK.COM
 CNN.COM
  east asia
  southeast asia
  south asia
  central asia
  australasia
 BUSINESS
 SPORTS
 SHOWBIZ
 ASIA WEATHER
 ASIA TRAVEL


Other News
From TIME Asia

Culture on Demand: Black is Beautiful
The American Express black card is the ultimate status symbol

Asia Buzz: Should the Net Be Free?
Web heads want it all -- for nothing

JAPAN: Failed Revolution
Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori clings to power as dissidents in his party finally decide not to back a no-confidence motion

Cover: Endgame?
After Florida's controversial ballot recount, Bush holds a 537-vote lead in the state, which could give him the election

TIME Digest
FORTUNE.com
FORTUNE China
MONEY.com

TIME Asia Services
Subscribe
Subscribe to TIME! Get up to 3 MONTHS FREE!

Bookmark TIME
TIME Media Kit
Recent awards

TIME Asia Asiaweek Asia Now TIME Asia story

OCTOBER 4, 1999 VOL. 154 NO. 13

On the Road in East Timor with the Indonesian Army
By ZAMIRA LOEBIS Atambua

At 8.30 a.m. last Tuesday, I hopped aboard one of nine Indonesian army trucks that pulled out of Jakarta's military headquarters in Dili. The convoy was bound for Atambua, a town in West Timor on the border with East Timor, where it was to collect soldiers from Indonesia's 301 Battalion and bring them to the Dili seaport, to leave East Timor for good. My driver was a nervous marine in his early 20s who had been in Dili for just five days.

We took the steep, winding roads along the beautiful northwestern coast of Timor, falling in line with the exodus of people from Dili seeking refuge in West Timor. Burned and broken-down cars littered the roadsides. The entire town of Liquica, a pocket of pro-independence sentiment, was gutted, save for a few old Portuguese buildings. As we approached the border, we saw some men herding goats and sheep on a dry pasture, a rare sign of normal life. Then we arrived at the checkpoint at Batugade, where rows of blue and orange plastic tents now shelter tens of thousands of East Timorese refugees, their lives halted and future uncertain. My driver's relief was obvious when we entered West Timor. "We're home in old Indonesia at last," he said.

    ALSO IN TIME
East Timor: A Shaky Start
International peacekeeping forces meet less resistance than had been feared, but continuing reports of violence make it clear that the militias won't just fade away

Pulling Out
On the road with Jakarta's military

Viewpoint
Insecurity drives Indonesia's xenophobia

Marching into Trouble
The multinational peacekeeping force that lands this week is entering a minefield--just the first on what promises to be a long road to independence (Sept. 27, 1999)

Eyewitness
In a terror-struck village outside Dili, the Indonesian army makes a show of taking food aid to hungry refugees (Sept. 27, 1999)

Descent Into Chaos
The brutal rampage that has paralyzed the half-island has also severely damaged Indonesia's reputation in the world (Sept. 20, 1999)

  RELATED STORIES
CNN
Breaking news from Southeast Asia

Interactive map: The fragile archipelago

ASIAWEEK
Keeping the Peace
A measure of calm returns to East Timor with the arrival of international troops. But the real challenge is not bringing peace but keeping it

  MESSAGE BOARD
Indonesia and East Timor

At Atambua, we were greeted by 300 anxious soldiers and their commander, Major Edi Supriadi. It was only 1:30 p.m., but Edi decided to stay put until the next morning. "The drivers need a rest," he said, but it was clear that even he didn't want to take any chances traveling in the dark. His battalion had already been attacked several times by pro-independence Falantil fighters and forced to abandon posts east and south of Dili. Some of his men were clearly shaken. "At one point, we were face-to-face, just two meters apart," one lieutenant said about an encounter with the Falantil. "I had never been so scared in my life."

As evening neared, I quizzed Edi about Indonesia's pullout from East Timor. He seemed conflicted. "If the people of Indonesia decide that we have to let East Timor go, we'll have to agree, because we follow orders from them," he said with a sigh. "But we can't help feeling hurt. It's sad to think that we lost so many lives and sacrificed so many things for nothing. But I wish all the best for East Timor." He sighed again.

His men were much less diplomatic, accusing Jakarta of betrayal. One soldier said the Habibie administration had succumbed too quickly to outside pressure. "We shouldn't be afraid of economic embargoes or whatever sanctions they threatened us with," he said. "Indonesians should learn from their soldiers to be tough and not to surrender too easily."

At dawn on Wednesday, as we prepared for the journey back toward the airport, I spotted some soldiers loading six monkeys and a few caged songbirds onto a truck. The pets had served the battalion as sentinels. "Those animals were with the soldiers up in the mountain--alert 24 hours a day to warn of a sudden ambush," Edi explained. "The soldiers would never leave them behind."

This edition's table of contents
TIME Asia home


AsiaNow


   LATEST HEADLINES:

WASHINGTON
U.S. secretary of state says China should be 'tolerant'

MANILA
Philippine government denies Estrada's claim to presidency

ALLAHABAD
Faith, madness, magic mix at sacred Hindu festival

COLOMBO
Land mine explosion kills 11 Sri Lankan soldiers

TOKYO
Japan claims StarLink found in U.S. corn sample

BANGKOK
Thai party announces first coalition partner



TIME:

COVER: President Joseph Estrada gives in to the chanting crowds on the streets of Manila and agrees to make room for his Vice President

THAILAND: Twin teenage warriors turn themselves in to Bangkok officials

CHINA: Despite official vilification, hip Chinese dig Lamaist culture

PHOTO ESSAY: Estrada Calls Snap Election

WEB-ONLY INTERVIEW: Jimmy Lai on feeling lucky -- and why he's committed to the island state



ASIAWEEK:

COVER: The DoCoMo generation - Japan's leading mobile phone company goes global

Bandwidth Boom: Racing to wire - how underseas cable systems may yet fall short

TAIWAN: Party intrigues add to Chen Shui-bian's woes

JAPAN: Japan's ruling party crushes a rebel ì at a cost

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans need to have more babies. But success breeds selfishness


Launch CNN's Desktop Ticker and get the latest news, delivered right on your desktop!

Today on CNN
 Search

Back to the top   © 2000 Time Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines.