Dili - The UN said yesterday five East Timorese civilians were murdered by pro-Jakarta militiamen in "a brutal attack" as villagers prepared for a church service. The strongly worded statement, quoting "reliable sources", said terrified villagers were chased into the bush near Atara village, 60 miles south of Dili, on Sunday and killed.
Ireland is willing to send gardai to help election monitoring in the forthcoming polls in East Timor, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, told journalists in Brussels yesterday.
