austraLasia
1570
Timor update - Bro.
Adriano hit by stone-throwing mob
DILI:
31st May 2006 -- With more than 1,500 troops now in Dili, Australia is
keeping a close eye on the very difficult situation theres (things are calmer
elsewhere in the isalnd); the Don Bosco Centre at Comoro has been the setting
for a little too much of the action, and the Salesian Sisters too, have been
dealing with large numbers of refugees. Two Australian news outlets, one
Catholic the other national radio, have been following events. One of
these events highlights the quite dangerous circumstances our community has
found itself in as it responds heroically to the needs of thousands of ordinary
people.
Monday was a bad day. The Chief Executive of
World Vision is an Australian Baptist minister, Rev. Tim Costello. He
reports: "Our staff here have been under fire. Their compound had to be
evacuated. The very work of getting food and water into some 25,000 refugees in
three camps - the Don Bosco camp is one we're going to, and two convents - would
be at risk if we had to evacuate, and we now have to make that decision because
of the security situation".
And in fact, not only because
World Vision had to evacuate but also because an Australian contingent of troops
were ordered elsewhere at a critical moment, things took a turn for the
worse. From Cathnews reporting the Sydney Morning Herald: "
The head of Don Bosco mission in
East Timor has been attacked by a stone-throwing mob as he drove victims of a
gunfight to hospital while Australian troops struggle to restore order in the
divided capital Dili. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that just
minutes after Australian peacekeepers departed from the Catholic mission of Don
Bosco, a gunfight broke out. Two men were shot and wounded, one in the leg and
the other in the abdomen. The head of the mission, Br Adriano de Jesus, said a
squad of troops had been guarding the mission but pulled out when they were
ordered to go elsewhere. "We asked them not to leave," Br de Jesus said. "But
they said they had to go. Straight away the fighting broke out again and [the
two men] were shot."
As he drove the victims to hospital,
the vehicle was attacked by a mob throwing stones, and Br De Jesus was hit on
the head. "The fighting is getting worse and the Australian troops are only
watching the Timorese kill each other." On the main road between the
airport and the city, pitched battles raged all day. At one point Australians
soldiers drove by at great speed in their armoured personnel carriers as a man
was dragged from his car and beaten.
That was
Monday. Reports suggest that the situation has improved in the past 24
hours - the Australian contingent was operating under strict rules of engagement
which have hampered their ability to deal with situations. The President
Xanana Gusmao has now assumed direct control of the local armed forces and
police and is the immediate liaison with the foreign troops he has invited in to
help. That in itself has been a calming situation. With improved
security the urgent need now is for food to continue to be distributed to
residents and refugees and for sanitation to be improved, especially where
refugees are gathered in their thousands.
The Australian
Defence Ministry indicates that their current plan for troops in East Timor is a
six month
deployment.
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