Condemning "the brutal murder" of three UN relief workers in West Timor, the UN Security Council told Indonesia on Friday to immediately disarm and disband militias there.
The 15 council members voted unanimously for a resolution which also underlined that the United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor should "respond robustly" to cross-border threats by the militia.
The resolution condemned the "outrageous and contemptible" killings of three staff of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Atambua, West Timor on Wednesday.
It stressed that "those responsible for the attacks on international personnel in West and East Timor must be brought to justice."
The security council pointed out that the dead men -- an American, a Croat and an Ethiopian -- were in West Timor to assist refugees who fled East Timor when the militias laid the territory to waste after it voted for independence from Indonesia a year ago.
East Timorese leaders Xanana Gusmao and Jose Ramos-Horta were invited to be present when the council voted.
Earlier Friday, the two called on south-east Asian nations to restore law and order in West Timor if Indonesia failed to do so.
In a statement, they said the attack at Atambua was "the result of bad faith on the part of the Indonesian military leadership."
Before the vote, the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Richard Holbrooke, told reporters "the Security Council will send a mission to Indonesia and East Timor."
The resolution expressed the council's "outrage at the reported attacks in Betun, West Timor, on September 7th in which a number of refugees reportedly have been killed."
It insisted that the Indonesian government "take immediate additional steps ... to disarm and disband the militia immediately, restore law and order in the affected areas in West Timor, ensure safety and security in the refugee camps and for humanitarian workers, and prevent cross-border incursions into East Timor."
On Wednesday, Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid said he had ordered his armed forces to send two battalions of troops from the Reserve Strategic Unit and the Police Mobile Brigade Unit to Atambua.
Taking note of the decision, the council "stressed that UNHCR workers cannot return to West Timor until there is a credible security guarantee, including real progress towards disarming and disbanding the militias."
It called on the government "to take effective and immediate measures to ensure the safe return of refugees who choose to go back to East Timor."
It stressed the need to resettle those who choose not to return.
A top UN official in Singapore said Saturday that the United Nations has evacuated all its staff from West Timor after the slayings of the three aid workers.
N. Parameswaran, the UN's chief of staff for transitional administration in East Timor, said some local officials were also evacuated – UNITED NATIONS (AFP)
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