The Jakarta Post, 1/11/2006 7:14:30 PM
East Timor defends shooting deaths of three Indonesians
DILI (AFP): East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said Wednesday that his country's
police force had acted in self defense when they shot dead three former pro-Jakarta
militiamen near the border.
He also criticized Indonesia for failing to prevent militiamen from infiltrating East Timor.
The incident Friday sparked a diplomatic row between Indonesia and its former
province of East Timor, with Jakarta accusing East Timorese police of excessive use
of force.
"Our policemen were ambushed by these three individuals that entered our country
without documents, visas or passports," Alkatiri told a press conference.
One of two teenagers who managed to escaped the shooting said they and their three
colleagues had intended to fish in a river near the border but had unwittingly crossed
into East Timorese territory.
The three former members of the Red and White Iron militia took Indonesian
citizenship after East Timor voted for independence from Jakarta in 1999.
Around 1,500 mostly East Timorese who moved to Indonesia's West Timor or East
Nusa Tenggara after the 1999 referendum took to the streets of Atambua near the
border on Monday to condemn the shootings.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda described the incident as "an
excessive use of violence" and urged East Timor to prosecute the policemen who
carried out the shooting. (**)
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