AUSTRALIA'S biggest military task force since the 1999 East Timor crisis, including warships, armoured vehicles, helicopters and 450 troops, will be ready to sail to Dili by late next week. In a sign of the escalating crisis, HMAS Kanimbla, steaming back to Sydney yesterday from an exercise in the Pacific, was ordered to turn around and head for Darwin. UN extends Timor mission
East Timor Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta last night said his country did not need foreign peacekeepers "because there is no war in East Timor".
But the navy's three largest ships, HMAS Kanimbla, HMAS Manoora and HMAS Tobruk, will load Darwin-based armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and hundreds of troops ahead of an expected United Nations request for military assistance. The peacekeeping task force will include more than 1000 personnel equipped to enforce law and order and evacuate civilians from the capital Dili. It will include 450 infantry from the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Townsville-based 3rd Brigade and APCs from the Darwin-based 1st Brigade.
According to sources, the Government expects a UN request at any time.
Dr Ramos-Horta said while troops were not needed, additional international police advisers would be helpful in the tiny nation, which is due to hold general elections next year. "We need an international police to create stability," he said.
At 2pm yesterday, Manoora and Tobruk were rapidly deployed from Garden Island. Either Kanimbla or Manoora will stop at Townsville to pick up the 450 troops. The APCs will be driven on to Tobruk and soldiers, other vehicles, equipment and medical supplies will be carried on the other ships.
| Might as well give the sailing time and tide, you've told us everything else. |
Prime Minister John Howard said the deployment was a sensible measure, but no request had been received from East Timor. "The Australian Defence Force have got to head somewhere, they can't just sort of remain becalmed like the ancient mariner," he said.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the Government was closely monitoring the situation and would consider any request from the UN. It is understood Australian soldiers have been sent to East Timor to assess the situation ahead of the task force. Troops from the Special Air Service Regiment conducted extensive operations across East Timor following the pro-Indonesian militia rampage in late 1999.