The credibility of the United Nations was on the line, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said last night in an angry reaction to what he called the failure of the international community to protect the people of East Timor.
"The international community has a duty and obligation to convince the Indonesian authorities that a peacekeeping force should be allowed [into East Timor] as a measure of extreme urgency to stop the medieval brutality that is ongoing," he said in an RTE interview.
He said the world had a duty to bring "some form of peace to the courageous people of East Timor . . . the first priority is the safety of the people of East Timor and that priority has not been discharged."
The work of the UN - which organised the election in which 78 per cent of East Timorese people voted for independence from Indonesia - had been dishonoured, he said, "and the credibility of the UN is now on the line."
Earlier, the United States indicated that economic pressure only would be applied against Indonesia. The White House spokesman, Mr Joe Lockhart, said Jakarta had been told "very clearly and forcefully" to restore order.
Asked what would happen if Indonesia did not, he replied that US and international economic aid to Indonesia depended on it averting a "humanitarian catastrophe" in East Timor.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian military appointed a new commander to take charge of East Timor, MajGen Kiki Syahnakri.
"His duty is to take over public installations and, secondly, to create a safe atmosphere," Gen Wiranto, Defence Minister and head of the army, said.
Maj-Gen Syahnakri recently said the army's approach in East Timor had changed from repression to "persuasion and education".