EAST TIMOR: INDONESIAN TROOPS PREPARE TO LEAVE (2)

(24 Sep 1999) English/Nat Indonesian troops continued their retreat from strife-riven East Timor following Jakarta's announcement that martial law over the territory has been lifted. Meanwhile an Australian-led United Nations peacekeeping force continue their efforts to secure the territory from further acts of violence from pro-Indonesian militia gangs. Indonesia last week scrapped a security treaty with Australia in an apparent protest against the latter's intervention in the East Timor crisis. The Indonesian military have also been accused of contributing in East Timor's destructive crisis, in collusion with the militia. Indonesia said on Thursday that martial law had been revoked in East Timor and that the responsibility for security would be handed over to the multinational force. The government imposed martial law on September 7 after the militia rampage began in reaction to East Timor's independence referendum on August 30th. SOUNDBITE: (English) "There's a lot of buildings in this sector to be searched and it takes a lot of manpower to do that." Q - Do you still believe the militia are a dangerous threat ? "Yes, I do, at this stage." SUPER CAPTION: Major Mark Ross, Commander running operation SOUNDBITE: (English) "We have identified instances where it is very likely that there has been interaction between T-N-I (Indonesian military) and the militia. This is especially to do with those T-N-I who have been recruited from within East Timor. This is understandable." SUPER CAPTION: Major General Peter Cosgrove, Commander of U-N peacekeeping force Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...