Weekly Review
TIMOR: KEEPING THE PRESSURE ON
President Suharto this week continued to holdull-scale invasion of Portuguese Timor, despite the collapse ol Lisbon's peace efforts.special envoy Almeida Santos returned home last weekend after apparently falling to arrange talks with the feuding Timorese factions. Santos also was unable toultinational effort to restore order In Timor.
Santos received Indonesian supportroposal to hold further peace talks in Macao beginning this weekend, but the radical Fretilin party, which controls much of Portuguese Timor, apparently refused to participate. The Portuguese may still try lo arrange talks at some other locale.
Last week, Suharto reasserted Indonesian supportolicy of restraint, calling for an orderly decolonization process in Timor. Nevertheless, Jakarta has expressed strongwith Portugal's futile peace efforts, and President Suharto is interested inegal justification for military action in Timor. In this regard, Jakarta is indicating that it is studying the legal aspectsossible union betweenTimor and Indonesia in response to the "growing demand for union" from the people ol Portuguese Timor.
Indonesian military forces remain ready for intervention!
miuuny I'ommano, at wast lor tne
present, will merely increase the number of special lotces troops that it is sending across the border. Although special forces units have been carrying out reconnaissance missions on Timor since last year, Jakarta is now sendingits into the Portuguese hall of the island in order lo engage Fretilin forces, encourage proelements, and provoke incidents that would provide the Indonesians an excuse to Invade should they decide to do so.
Early inombined force ofpecial forces troops and Indonesian-trained native guerrilla troops crossed the border. After entering into the Portuguese half of the island, the unit was dividedumber of teams, one of which reportedly overran Fatu Besi, someiles inside the border. Other teams are meeting stiff resistance from Fretilin troops, however. The commander of the special forces teamsis now regrouping all his units, and falling backosition near the border.
irborne and infantry troops that had been alerted nearly two weeks ago remain on alert status on lava. One company of infantry troops on nearby Bali has been alerted formovement to the Portuguese Timor border area. Also, the air force continues to carry :upplies to airfields and support facilities closer to Portuguese Timor. In addition, several ships of the naval task force assembled off the coast ofincluding several destroyerand six merchant marineare patrolling the northern and southern coasts of the
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