April 22, 1999
Web posted at: 10:55 a.m. EDT (1455 GMT)

In this story: Militias ignore cease-fire Howard to pressure Habibe Diplomatic gamble Jakarta hints at Gusmao's release RELATED STORIES, SITES

TOKYO (CNN) -- As a day-old cease-fire in East Timor deteriorated into more threats of violence on Thursday, Australia said it hopes to see U.N. peacekeepers in the troubled Indonesian province if peace talks now under way are successful.

"If these talks are a success, clearly we hope a U.N. presence can be on the ground in the next few weeks," said Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who is in Tokyo on an official visit.

East Timor has been rocked by violence in the run-up to a planned July ballot on whether it should be an autonomous Indonesian province or independent. Thirty people died last weekend in a rampage by pro-Jakarta militias.

Downer said Australia had a team already talking with the United Nations about logistical problems related to the entry of U.N. personnel to safeguard security and ensure a fair vote.

"Australia is clearly willing to help in this process," he said.

Downer met with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi on Thursday afternoon and said he had urged Japan to offer assistance.

"We look to Japan to provide financial support to the U.N. for the role that the U.N. will play, assuming that (peace) talks in New York are successful," he said. "I think it's fair to say that Prime Minister Obuchi was responsive to the representations I made and we look forward to Japan making a constructive contribution."

Downer also welcomed a truce pact signed by warring East Timorese factions on Wednesday, but stressed that implementation -- especially the maintenance of law and order by Indonesia in the former Portuguese colony -- would be key.

The truce was welcomed by Portuguese and Indonesia negotiators as they began a critical round of the U.N.- sponsored talks on East Timor.

But gun-wielding pro-Jakarta militias ignored the cease-fire on Thursday, threatening civilians and effectively sealing the territory's capital at night, residents and witnesses said.

As dusk fell, Dili residents were effectively barricaded in the capital, afraid to travel to villages even a few kilometers away because pro-Jakarta militias controlled the roads after dark, armed with guns, machetes and rocks, they said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard will meet with Indonesian President B.J. Habibe next week to seek ways to stem the unrest of Australia's nearest neighbor.

Howard is expected to press Habibe to commit to doing all he can to disarm the militias, which many believe receive weapons from the Indonesian army.

"We have said many times before that ... at the very least, Indonesia is responsible for the security situation in East Timor," Downer said.

"The onus of that task falls on the armed forces and the police force in East Timor and they haven't done a good job in recent times. It's important that they perform more effectively and do everything they can to stop the violence and move to disarm the two sides -- the paramilitaries and the pro-independence side," Downer said.

Howard will meet Habibe on Tuesday on the island of Bali to play the high-stakes game of tackling Habibie publicly on violence in the territory.

Analysts say it is Australia's greatest international policy challenge since troops were sent to the Vietnam War more than 30 years ago. If all goes sour, Australia could alienate Indonesia after half a century of painstakingly cemented relations.

"There are huge risks involved in ... antagonizing Indonesia because it could poison the relationship for decades," said former Australian ambassador to Jakarta Rawdon Dalrymple.

Successive Australian governments have taken immense pains to build up strong relations with its northern neighbor and Australia is the only Western nation that recognizes Indonesia's 1976 annexation of East Timor.

But Asian experts say Howard has to put that relationship on the line, given the alternative of civil war in the territory less than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from Australia's northern border.

"There is a real prospect that if things get worse, we could be faced with a human rights disaster and demands for giving sanctuary to large numbers of people," said Richard Robison, director of the Murdoch University Asian Center.

Indonesia said on Thursday it would consider giving clemency to detained Easter Timorese guerrilla leader Xanana Gusmao if the conflict in the bloodied territory were resolved.

"If it's all resolved, then it needs to be thought whether Xanana needs to be given clemency or not," Justice Minister Muladi said in Jakarta.

But the Indonesian government had not yet started any process that could lead to Gusmao's release, Muladi said.

Gusmao is under house arrest in Jakarta after the government removed him from the capital's Cipinang prison after mounting international pressure.

He was jailed for 20 years in 1992 for leading a guerrilla war in East Timor, which Indonesia invaded in 1975 and annexed the following year.

Muladi conceded that Gusmao has played a key role in the peace process, describing his involvement in the signing of Wednesday's pact between warring groups in East Timor as "very strategic."

Gusmao signed the statement in Jakarta before Indonesian armed forces commander General Wiranto took it to Dili for the signing at the house of Nobel peace laureate Bishop Carlos Belo.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.