246 Los Palos as it is at present

Subject: 'austraLasia' #246

LOS PALOS AS IT IS AT PRESENT

NOTE: this is a transcript from a radio bulletin and misses the occasional

word, but it's the first eyewitness account we have of how things are around

Los Palos which is a Salesian stronghold amongst other things. We have been

led to believe that things were quieter in the east - if you can believe an

Australian :-) maybe that's not quite so! (Julian)

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

PM News

Thursday, September 30, 1999 6:10

Convoy arrives in Los Palos

COMPERE: But first the international force is spreading its control

gradually across East Timor, but its grip remains frail. As we shall hear

shortly, the US is pushing hard for Indonesian reform and a guarantee that

there will be no more support for the militias, and Australia wants a

transition sooner rather than later to a so called "blue helmet" UN peace

keeping force.

In the meantime there's the slow and painstaking work on the ground. The

multi-national force in East Timor and Aid Agencies have made their most

remote food drop yet. A 20 truck convoy has arrived in the town of Los Palos

in the East of the territory.

Our correspondent, Geoff Thompson, was on board.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, Mark, it was complete devastation between Baukau and

Los Palos. It was just burnt house after burnt house. We stopped at a few

places on the way and the locals were just overwhelmingly happy to see the

UN return to this part of East Timor. One young girl told me that times were

so

good when the UN were here but then they left and she cried and said I'm

just so happy that they're back.

But, of course, this trip was just really to fly the flag in Los Palos. As

you said, it's the furthest a convoy has ventured now outside of the capital

Dili by land, and the people here were very glad to see an international

presence return to the town

COMPERE: But it's fair to say that everywhere you go you see exactly the

same pattern of razed houses and destruction?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Absolutely. And in some towns, damage worse than others.

There was a ... the UN said a few days ago when it flew over Los Palos that

it was 75 per cent destroyed. On the ground it seems it's not quite as bad

as some other places, but that doesn't mean much in East Timor at the

moment.

The local priest estimates that 50 per cent of houses have been burnt down

in

Los Palos and, you know, as you say, anywhere you travel in East Timor there

is a trail of destruction. In some areas it's slightly less than others.

COMPERE: And what kind of evidence is there in Los Palos, I know you've only

just got there, but in terms of what has been happening there in the last

couple of weeks?

GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, to a person when he talks to locals they say all the

destruction has been done by the militia working in a joint operation with

the Indonesian military, and the priest estimates that hundreds of people

have died in Los Palos, but no-one can say for sure.

We were taken around the town. We were taken to a military command where

there's a prison cell there where the walls are literally splattered with

blood.

One young man told us that his friend had been taken there and shot. They

were then ... I think he was finished off with a knife and their bodies were

then taken to a well, which we were also escorted to, and dumped there. It

was impossible to see in that well, it was just too dark, but there were

plenty of flies and the smell was certainly unpleasant.

COMPERE: This is remarkable, isn't it, in that before the election all the

militia activity seemed to be concentrated in the Western districts of the

country and yet there you are, nearly as far East as you can go in East

Timor, and it seems to be just as bad. It seems as if the destruction was

evenly spread right across the whole territory.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Well, that's right. In fact, Los Palos was being held up by

the UN as an example of how well things are working in their mission. It was

offered up to journalists - I almost went on it myself - as a trip to

showcase how well they were doing without militia trouble, etcetera.

But we've always know that the Team Alpha militia was based here. It was

under direct control of the Party, the Administrator in Los Palos, Edmundo

Arvi Consulsow (phonetic) and they were also one of those militias which

were changed into the civilian security force called Atami Su Akarta

(phonetic).

When we asked the Party about them they said they don't exist anymore.

They're now [inaudible], a civilian security force. But the trouble in the

East was that it was certainly present, but far less than in the West. That

after these recent weeks, there was a systematic campaign of destruction

spread through the whole territory.

COMPERE: Geoff Thompson on the satellite phone from Los Palos in the East of

East Timor.

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