Notícias - em inglês

New Zealand Herald - Tuesday October 31, 2006

NZ's response to East Timor crisis under fire
By Greg Ansley

CANBERRA - New Zealand's response to last May's crisis in East Timor revealed serious political and military flaws that could be disastrous in future emergencies in the region, an analysis of the deployment published in an Australian defence magazine claims.

The analysis appears today in Defender, the publication of the Australian Defence Association lobby group, and is highly critical of political indecision and a misreading of events leading up to the crisis.

As a result, it says, the Government was caught out by surprise and its contribution to the Australian-led intervention was late and too small.

The Defender article also warns that Army readiness levels may be too low.

The analysis was written by Auckland University doctoral candidate Zhivan Alach, whose thesis examines defence policy in Australia following the end of the Cold War.

Mr Alach says the arrival of the first deployment of one platoon on May 27, one day after Australians began landing in strength, was within an acceptable operational and diplomatic timeframe.

But he is critical of the four-day delay between the arrival of the full contingent of Delta Company in Darwin and its deployment to Dili - even given the official position that tropical acclimatisation was necessary for a long stay in the East Timorese capital.

Other difficulties included integrating the New Zealand deployment into the huge transfer of Australian soldiers and equipment, and the negotiations between Wellington, Australia and East Timor required to resolve confusion over the Kiwis' role and activities.

Mr Alach points also to the Government's "misreading" of the lead-up to the crisis.

He says that signs of renewed violence had been building throughout April and that by early May it had become highly probably that New Zealand would need to send in troops.

But unlike Australia, which had put troops on standby much earlier, Wellington deferred its decision to ready troops.

"The primary reason for this hesitation in providing a company group to East Timor seems to have been a misreading of the situation at official and/or political levels in Wellington," Mr Alach writes.

He says reasons for this included Wellington's emphasis on multilateral consensus and its concern to avoid making any move that could be misconstrued as being overly aggressive.

There were also worries about the factional nature of the fighting in Dili, doubts about who constituted the legitimate government of East Timor, and concerns that New Zealand troops should not take sides in an incipient civil war, Mr Alach writes.

"However, the primary reason for the New Zealand Government's delay in raising the infantry company's readiness notice seems to have been a simple misjudgment of the level of conflict on the ground."

He claims the deployment revealed other shortcomings in New Zealand's ability to provide overseas assistance.

A separate Cabinet decision was needed to raise the readiness of each of the potential deployments which could have instead been arranged by senior military commanders or Defence Minister Phil Goff.

Last night Mr Goff defended NZ's deployment to Timor, saying troops were dispatched quickly. "We waited in Darwin until such time as Australia was ready for us to come."

It was not a case of misreading the crisis, he said. New Zealand troops went as soon as Australia was ready for them to enter Timor.

"I don't know where the gentleman gets his information from."

***

The Dominion Post - Tuesday October 31, 2006

Dili rebellion talk a worry to peacekeepers

Rumours of organised rebellion against Australian troops in East Timor may indicate a threat to all international forces in the country, including those from New Zealand.

Talk of youth gangs paid to commit violence against Australian troops in the capital Dili have been linked to police discoveries that drugs and alcohol are being given to the same people.

The East Timorese Government has ordered an investigation into what is being described as an orchestrated campaign designed to turn public sentiment against the Australian troops and destabilise the country before the 2008 elections.

There were no indications of who was behind the suspected campaign, but it was a situation that should be of concern to all countries involved in peacekeeping in East Timor, Victoria University Institute of Policy Studies director Andrew Ladley said. "Any suggestion of an organised response has to be of concern to the whole international community. The hope would be that these are isolated incidents."

The Australian military faced a public "nervousness" at their size and relative force compared to other nations, Dr Ladley said. "There is a growing sense of 'Are they really the good guys?' "

New Zealand troops were unlikely to be confused with their neighbours and had a more positive relationship with locals, he said. "New Zealand is very distinctly identified as not being Australian. They have a very strong relationship with the local population."

Army spokeswoman Charmaine Pene said New Zealand's area of operation, near Dili, was relatively calm. "We're carrying on as normal, we don't appear to have anyone targeting New Zealand troops."

The Australian forces were in west Dili where a lot of the unrest was located, she said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said the violence in East Timor was "disturbing" and would require a continued presence from offshore troops. "I don't think the case for that is going to go away any time soon unfortunately."

New Zealand's 136 troops in East Timor will be replaced by a company of 145 troops from Linton army base in November. The new contingent, a mix of air force, navy and army personnel, will serve a six-month tour.

The relatively small size of the New Zealand military presence – 136 troops compared to Australia's 1000-strong contingent – made them less threatening, Dr Ladley said.

But the social situation in Dili meant there were a large number of youths with little to do, and that could spell more trouble. Similar situations in hotspots such as Papua New Guinea had shown youths were vulnerable to recruitment drives for gangs, he said.

The main concern would be if violence took hold beyond "a couple of gangsters".

"Out of that will come a climate where people are encouraged to commit acts of violence. It would be a foolish person who did not see this as having this as potential warning signals for the popularity of an outside force."

***

Radio Australia - Monday, 30 October 2006, 01:33:59

UN to investigate role of organised crime in Timor unrest

United Nations police in East Timor are looking into claims that organised criminals are supplying drugs to local gangs to fuel further unrest.

Youth workers claim impure supplies of the drug crystal meth, or ice, are fuelling armed gangs to engage in extreme violence.

They say one of the city's biggest gangs is now manufacturing so-called dirty ice in Dili, and using it to push a broader agenda to destabilise the tiny nation.

The UN's acting head of mission, Finn Reske-Nielsen, says it's something for UN police to investigate.

Finn Reske-Nielsen: 'We are concerned about what appears to be a fact that both alcohol and drugs may have been involved in the violence that we experienced last week.'

***

The Edge Daily

Petronas, 3 Korean partners get Timor Leste PSC
By Jimmy Yeow

Petronas and three Korean partners have been awarded a production sharing contract (PSC) for an offshore exploration Block 06-102 in the joint petroleum development area between Timor Leste and Australia.

The Korean partners are Korea Gas, Samsung and LG International. The PSC, which was signed in Dili on Oct 30, is the first block to have been awarded by the Timor Leste Designated Authority (TSDA).

Petronas via its subsidiary and operator of the block PC (Timor Sea 06-102) Ltd holds a 50% stake in the PSC, Korea Gas 30% while Samsung and LG International has 10% each.

In a statement yesterday, Petronas said the PSC marked its entry in the Timor Leste/Australia’s upstream sector. “Petronas and partners are optimistic of the commerciality of the block’s hydrocarbon accumulation.”

It said the minimum investment for the exploration activities was US$40.5 million (RM147.87 million).

Block 06-102 covers 4,125 sq km and is located 450 km from Darwin and about 250 km off the shore of Timor Leste.

Under the PSC terms, the contractors are committed to acquire, process and interpret 300 sq km of 3D seismic data, undertake geological and geophysical studies and drill three exploration wells during the first three years of the block’s exploration phase.

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