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Indonesia Urges UNTAET to Form E. Timor Joint Border Committee
The Indonesian government urged the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to sign an agreement on the formation of a joint border committee as part of measures to ease disruptive activities along the East Timor border.
Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that with a joint committee the two sides could conduct surveillance on all kinds of incidents in the border area.
"The presence of a joint committee can ensure that fair measures will be taken against Indonesia as it has been too often that we have been blamed for supporting all kinds of incidents happening on the border," he was quoted by the Jakarta Post Saturday as saying.
"It has become very unfair if every time we have to take the blame ... The committee will have the authority to make investigations and conduct surveillance each time an incident occurs," Susilo said after a meeting with UNTAET chief Sergio Vieira de Mellon here on Friday.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director General for Political Affairs Hassan Wirajuda, the Indonesian government had delivered the draft to UNTAET.
"However, UNTAET refused to sign the draft on the grounds that they have to discuss it among themselves on September 7 and maybe after September 10 they will be ready to have further talks about it," Wirajuda added.
The Indonesian government said the Joint Border Committee will be authorized to set rules on movements along the border between East Timor and West Timor including on security conditions and administration procedures for those who want to cross the border.
The committee can also be authorized to determine the demarcation line between the two areas.
Susilo said during the meeting de Mello again alleged that intensified activities on the border in the past month was supported by and involved the Indonesian Military.
"But, from the facts we have on the field according to the Udayana Regional Commander Maj. Gen. Kiki Syahnakri, the allegations are baseless," he added.
There has been an upsurge in militia activity ahead of Wednesday's first anniversary of a U.N.-brokered ballot that saw the eastern half of Timor island vote to split from Indonesia after more than 23 years of rule. The militias, who recently killed two U.N. peacekeepers, operate from refugee camps in West Timor, where Indonesian troops and police have failed to halt their activities.
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