INTERNATIONAL CRACKDOWN

September 24, 1999
		A report from East Timor as international troops conduct house-to-house searches looking for militia members.

Online NewsHour Special Report: East Timor Independence Sept. 20, 1999: A background report on U.N. peacekeepers in East Timor. Online Backgrounder: A look at East Timor's stormy history. Sept. 15, 1999: A discussion with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. Sept. 14, 1999: An newsmaker interview with Madeleine Albright. Sept. 14, 1999: An interview with a journalist detained in East Timor. Sept. 13, 1999: Two United Nations representatives discuss the creation of an East Timor peacekeeping force. Sept. 10, 1999: Three experts discuss the international reaction to the militia violence in East Timor. Sept. 9, 1999: Samuel Berger on the East Timor crisis. Oct. 25, 1996: Online Forum: Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta responds to viewer questions. Nov. 13, 1996: A discussion with Jose Ramos-Horta. Oct. 11, 1996: Two East Timorese dissidents win the Nobel Peace Prize. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     United Nations Mission in East Timor Indonesian Embassy in Washington National Council of Timorese Resistance U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Carter Center	IAN WILLIAMS: It started as an act of defiance towards this ship full of departing militia, but it soon became a party as pro- independence supporters overcame their fear and spilled onto the street beside Dili's port. It was the first outpouring of emotion since the violence which followed the vote on independence. Suddenly, though, columns of Indonesian soldiers appeared, heading for the port, pulling out of East Timor. There was a moment of tension and uncertainty, the crowd parted, and through them marched the men blamed for much of the destruction of recent days. But the soldiers seemed resigned. They managed to hide any anger or humiliation and they prepared to board the ship to Jakarta.
	The Indonesian withdrawal begins
	IAN WILLIAMS: It's part of a big troop withdrawal which will remove the majority of Indonesian soldiers and police from East Timor. When the ship arrived an hour earlier, the mood had been very different. Australian troops were jeered at by soldiers and militiamen who'd arrived on the ship from other cities in East Timor. Australian helicopters buzzed overhead. It's not yet clear what damage these militias have done elsewhere in the territory, though the U.N. got its first inkling today when it sent a helicopter on a reconnaissance mission over towns in the western part of East Timor. NICK BIRNBACK, U.N. Mission Spokesman: Large portions of the housing stock have been destroyed. There were fires still burning. Two houses were seen being on fire. In Maliana and Sui, up to 80 percent of the housing stock was actually destroyed. No vehicle traffic practically at all; very few people to be seen; and just basically scenes of pretty instances devastation. IAN WILLIAMS: Earlier, Australian peacekeepers had mounted a massive show of force in Dili. Hundreds of soldiers backed by heavy armor and helicopters had closed down the eastern part of the city, searching from house to house. They showed little respect for the Indonesian soldiers looking on. The peacekeepers were taking control and this was designed to show it. MAJOR NICK HERMAN: We have the entire area sealed off and if people were to escape the immediate location, they will get caught on the extremities. IAN WILLIAMS: Three suspected militia members were found, dozens of others have already been arrested, including the one of the leaders of Dili's most notorious militia. The peacekeepers will make their prize captives available to any U.N. inquiry into the atrocities and today, they were talking tough. MAJOR CHIP HENRISS ANDERSON: I think the message it sends to anybody is that you cannot run. You cannot hide. Justice is here. IAN WILLIAMS: But they haven't yet stopped the burning which continues in Dili, and the commander of the peacekeepers warned that it may be some time before he's in a position to mount such an operation elsewhere in the territory. MAJ. GEN. PETER COSGROVE: The troops are being deployed at a very rapid rate. However, this is not to say that this is overcoming the security problem in the wider part of the country. We always knew this was going to take weeks. We have been here a matter of a multiple of hours and days. That's all. This is going to be a protracted peacekeeping operation. IAN WILLIAMS: Today, troops from the Philippines arrived to join the peacekeepers. General Cosgrove still insists, an 8,000 strong force will be enough, but it's a measure of the pressure he's under that he's urging contributing countries to speed up their deployment.