| Submit your comments on this article |
| Down Under |
| Australian SAS Troops land in East Timor |
| 2007-03-03 |
| Australian Special Air Service (SAS) troops, expert in infiltrating enemy-held territory, have reportedly landed in East Timor. Four Australian Defence Force aircraft landed in Dili carrying about 100 soldiers, deployed following a national security committee meeting in Canberra, Fairfax newspapers report today. The arrival of the additional troops, who will back 800 Australian and 120 New Zealand troops, came as Australia lifted its security alert to five, the highest level, for hundreds of Australians in East Timor. Australian and United Nations security officials in Dili fear the breakout of widespread violence, possibly even civil war, if Australian soldiers kill or injure rebel leader Alfredo Reinado. The fugitive East Timor rebel leader, who is surrounded in his hideout by Australian-led troops, yesterday refused to negotiate with a senior government official by telephone, demanding face-to-face talks. He has refused to surrender and vowed to fight to his death as the standoff developed this week, before saying talks were the best way forward. Maj Reinado is holed up with his followers in Same, 50 km south of the capital, Dili. He reportedly has said that East Timor's attorney-general had called, but said he wanted direct talks with the official. "I didn't want to speak with a postman; I wanted to speak with the Prosecutor-General," Maj Reinado is quoted by Fairfax as saying. "They are all trying to manipulate me." The commander of Australian troops in East Timor, Mal Rerden, declined to comment yesterday about additional SAS troops in Dili. Brigadier-General Rerden repeated his earlier demand for Maj Reinado to hand over his weapons and present himself to East Timor's judicial system, Fairfax reports. |
| Posted by:Snuling Gloling9123 |
| #3 Infil is okay as long as they also exfil with some of the leaders and put them under the Aussie version of waterboarding where they use the inside of a crocodile's mouth...... |
| Posted by: Jack is Back 2007-03-03 13:20 |
| #2 if your "hideout" is surrounded, I suspect you can no longer call it that, hmmmmm? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-03-03 10:43 |
| #1 Sounds like Reinado needs a little .50 Cal assistance in "opening up to new ideas." I suspect the SAS can supply that with no problem. |
| Posted by: mac 2007-03-03 09:38 |