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Indonesia arrests key figure in Timor militiasBy Compiled from Times wires © St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000 JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Police arrested a key Timorese militia leader Wednesday on charges of obstructing efforts to disarm the paramilitary groups that have been terrorizing refugees and international aid workers on the Indonesian half of Timor island. The arrest is the Indonesian government's most aggressive effort to rein in the militias. The government has faced strong international condemnation since a mob of militiamen killed three U.N. workers in Indonesian-controlled western Timor last month. The militias were responsible for the wave of killings and destruction in East Timor last year after the territory's vote for independence. When international peacekeepers arrived in East Timor, the militias fled across the border into western Timor, where they were allowed to roam freely, intimidating refugees and mounting cross-border attacks against the peacekeepers with weapons they received from renegade units of the Indonesian military. Law enforcement officials say the militia leader arrested Wednesday, Eurico Guterres, instructed his followers not to turn over their weapons to authorities and to retrieve guns that had already been seized. Prosecutors have named Guterres, described by human rights activists as a ringleader of the violence in East Timor, as a suspect in an attack on an independence supporter's house that left 12 people dead. U.N. officials praised the arrest and said the detention of paramilitary leaders is essential to hobbling the groups. Separately Wednesday, President Abdurrahman Wahid said he would not pardon the convicted son of Suharto, the former dictator. Tommy Suharto was sentenced to 18 months in jail for his role in a land scam.
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From the Times wire desk
From the AP |
