WEST TIMOR: ATAMBUA: UN COMPOUND UNDER POLICE GUARD

(8 Sep 2000) Natural Sound XFA The burned and ransacked U-N compound in Atambua, West Timor, was under police guard on Friday as the Indonesian cabinet held an emergency meeting to discuss security arrangements in the territory. On Wednesday, thousands of militiamen and supporters killed three foreign U-N workers and three local people when they stormed the Atambua office of the U-N High Commissioner for Refugees after raiding a nearby village. The foreign aid workers were named as Carlos Caceres of Puerto Rico, Samson Aregahegn of Ethiopia and Pero Simundza of Croatia. About 250 foreign aid workers were evacuated to UN-administered East Timor after the attack. They had provided humanitarian assistance to an estimated 90-thousand East Timorese refugees housed in West Timor camps. Atambua residents were still in shock after the attack but life was slowly returning to normal on Friday as some shops opened up and trading resumed. But the violence in the region appears to be continuing. On Friday, U-N officials said 11 villagers had been massacred by pro-Indonesian militias in West Timor. In East Timor's capital, Dili, U-N High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Bernard Kerblat said militias were terrorising local West Timorese people and refugees from neighbouring East Timor. He said there were 120-thousand people in a \"hostage-like situation\" because of the militias. Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid has promised to crack down on militias. He claims killings were aimed at discrediting him and derailing his democratic reforms. 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...