Two East Timor militiamen were killed and two Australian soldiers wounded in a clash yesterday, the commander of the international force in East Timor said. It was one of two clashes around the south-western town of Suai, not far from the border with Indonesia's West Timor, Maj Gen Peter Cosgrove said. Two militiamen were wounded by gunshots in the other incident.
The militiamen were killed as they tried to ambush an Interfet convoy near Suai, shortly after a number of captured militiamen were released and allowed to return to West Timor, Maj Gen Cosgrove said.
They were the first militiamen to be killed in armed contact with the Australian-led force, which arrived last month under a mandate to restore order to the territory. It was also the first time members of the UN-sanctioned force have been wounded in contact with militia, who have threatened to attack the force from their base in Atambua, just over the border in West Timor.
Bishop Carlos Belo yesterday described the aftermath of the devastation wrought on East Timor in the last month as "worse than hell".
Speaking on his return to Dili, one month after being forced to flee in fear of his life, East Timor's spiritual leader said he was deeply shocked by the scale of the damage inflicted by rampaging militias and the Indonesian military.
"This is worse than hell. We can't see hell yet but this is really hell," he said after meeting United Nations officials.
The bishop also said it was too early to talk about reconciliation with Indonesia. "Now we do not talk about reconciliation," he said. "Let us clean up the city first."
He called on the people of East Timor to show "the spirit to rebuild, to reconstruct the country and to look to the future, not the past".
Bishop Belo then returned to his charred residence on Dili's waterfront, where some 100 local people gathered to greet him. The bishop was evacuated from the compound on September 6th as militias prepared to attack hundreds of refugees sheltering in the grounds.
Smiling, Bishop Belo emerged from an Australian army LandRover and offered his hand for some of the crowd to kiss. He then embraced nuns and priests who had remained in the compound throughout the siege.
Bishop Belo's residence is completely burned out, but a small flat on the side of the main building is usable. It was given a fresh coat of paint on Tuesday, and pictures of Bishop Belo meeting Pope John Paul II were pinned inside the door.
Meanwhile, aid officials said that about 180 East Timorese refugees who fled to Indonesian West Timor are to be flown into Dili tomorrow.
"There will be two flights, each carrying 90 persons. The flights will be conducted under the auspices of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)," a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
The first batch of about 100 refugees had been due to arrive in Dili yesterday, but it was cancelled after Indonesia insisted on a full memorandum of understanding with the UNHCR before refugee returns could take place.