Posted on 05/25/2006 5:39:08 PM PDT by naturalman1975
AUSTRALIAN soldiers began patrolling the streets of the troubled East Timorese capital Dili this morning as Australia accelerated its deployment of troops to restore order to the troubled nation.
Several Hercules C-130 transport aircraft landed at Dili airport early today, spilling soldiers, vehicles and supplies on to the tarmac as part of Australia's Operation Astute.
By this morning, 350 Australian troops had taken up positions in Dili and the remainder of the 1300-strong force would be in the country by the end of the weekend, Prime Minister John Howard said.
Australian troops unloaded armoured personnel carriers and other military four-wheel drive vehicles and prepared to fan out across the city, the scene of intense fighting in recent days between the military and rebel soldiers.
A squad of about 20 heavily armed soldiers then moved out of the airport on foot, heading towards the centre of the city in combat formation, spread out on both sides of the road.
But Dili was quieter this morning, with residents strolling the streets and no sign of the intense fighting of recent days.
Outside Dili airport, 11 soldiers set up a machine gun post and were stopping and searching cars with the aid of sniffer dogs.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson Nelson warned Australian troops would use the "appropriate level of force" to return order to the strife-torn nation.
"If we do see people who are not responding to lawful requests from the Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel, we will use whatever level of force is required to see they are disarmed and do not threaten the life and safety of innocent people," he told ABC radio.
The Australian guided missile frigate HMAS Adelaide arrived in Dili yesterday carrying troops, while the transport ships Manoora, Kanimbla and Tobruk also are headed for East Timor.
They will bring more armoured personnel carriers and other transport, while helicopters will ferry in more men and supplies.
Up to 1300 Australian are being sent to East Timor to prevent the nation sliding into civil war.
The deployment was speeded up yesterday as fighting in Dili intensified and the Australian government feared more bloodshed if it did not move quickly.
Late last night Australian officials braved the violent streets of Dili to seek out East Timor leaders at their homes and get signed the crucial rules of engagement under which troops would restore order.
Mr Howard said this morning the full complement of Australian troops would be on the ground in East Timor "quicker than some people might have expected".
"Now I don't want to commit myself to hours of arrival, but as we speak more troops are arriving in Dili and I would expect that the full complement of 1300 will be there much quicker than some people might have expected," Mr Howard told Macquarie Radio this morning.
A detachment of Malaysian airborne troops also landed at Dili this morning and were in talks with Australian commanders.
About 40 New Zealand troops and support staff are expected to leave Christchurch for Townsville this morning and a second flight will leave later today.
Portugal also is preparing to send 120 paramilitaries, with the first 40 travelling to East Timor next week.
The chief of the defence force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, said all "combat elements" would be on the ground by close of business on Saturday and HMAS Tobruk would arrive on Sunday to supply logistical support, he said.
"By mid-morning we will have two very solid fighting elements on the ground ... and we will be feeling very secure with that amount of force on the ground," he told Southern Cross Broadcasting today.
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said Australia had further troops on standby if the 1300 already committed needed support.
"If we do need additional firepower in East Timor we already have it here in Australia to be deployed," he said.
"(But) we don't anticipate at the moment that we will need it."
I have lost track of how Australia got to assert its influence and authority over territory that was part of Indonesia so naturally the years-long massacre of non muslims was winked at...
East Timor requested them. Frankly I think the Aussis are ten times the allies of the US as old continental Europe
In simple terms, yes, Australia (along with a lot of other nations) pretty much ignored Indonesia's occupation of East Timor for over twenty years and let the people of East Timor suffer because of that. That changed in 1999. Indonesia gave East Timor its independence and Australia moved in to stabilise the infant nation when pro-Indonesian militias attemped to take over and started a renewed cycle of violence against the rest of the East Timorese. We stablised the nation (with the help of some other countries, including the United States) and then we left it in the hands of the UN.
And now it's unstable again.
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