Armed gangs represent 'real threat' to security - UNMISET
Dili, March 5 (Lusa) - Armed gangs, including former anti- independence
militiamen, represent a "real threat" to East Timor's security,
the UN
mission in Dili said Wednesday.
In a statement, UNMISET said that documents and interrogations of four
captured members of a gang that carried out a deadly road ambush last
week indicated that some of the armed groups had received military
training and were operating with "sophistication".
"Despite this, the UN peacekeeping force is optimistic that a firm
and
rapid response will give security...and send a strong message to any
group that tries to cause violence in East Timor", UNMISET added.
The statement was issued one day after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
recommended the Security Council freeze planned reductions this year of
the peacekeeping force, saying there was mounting "credible evidence"
that fomer pro-Indonesia "militias and armed groups" were setting
up
bases in East Timor to "destabilize" the 10-month-old independent
state.
Timorese and UN officials have said there were indications that up to
seven armed groups had infiltrated from Indonesian West Timor since
December.
UNMISET said a camp overrun by UN peacekeepers during a firefight west
of Dili Thursday showed the band had received "careful military
training".
In his report to the Security Council Tuesday, Annan said that acts of
violence in East Timor during the past three months indicated the need
to "modify the plan of withdrawal" of UN peacekeeping forces.
He recommended the UN maintain its current force of 3,853 peacekeepers
and 730 police through the end of the year.
The original planned called for a phased reduction to 1,750 by year's
end.
Peacekeeping forces are scheduled to depart fully from East Timor by
June 2004.