June 20, 1999
Web posted at: 4:17 a.m. EDT (0817 GMT)

In this story: 'Fear and intimidation' Reducing threat of violence RELATED STORIES, SITES

DARWIN, Australia (CNN) -- The first contingent of about 40 U.N. police were expected to fly from the Darwin Royal Australian Air Force base on Monday on an 800 km (500 mile) trip to Dili, in East Timor.

The police are to monitor an August 8 vote on whether East Timor will gain independence from Indonesia. In the months before the vote, violent incidents and demonstrations have been reported in the troubled region.

The poll will settle whether East Timor's 400,000 voters want autonomy under Jakarta rule, or a complete break from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has not yet determined whether conditions in East Timor are right for a fair ballot on autonomy or independence in August.

U.N. officials in the capital Dili have said pro-Jakarta militias have created an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

Violence ahead of the poll has raised speculation that it could be delayed due to security concerns, but rival armed factions on Friday signed an agreement to surrender their weapons and keep the peace ahead of the vote.

The first group includes police from Spain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Britain. Their departure was delayed from Saturday because of logistical problems.

British chief police inspector Michael Holdsworth, who recently served in Bosnia, said his members preferred not to carry arms ahead of the August 8 autonomy ballot.

"I feel it is not right to take firearms into East Timor. We didn't carry weapons in Bosnia and we don't need them in East Timor," said Holdsworth, as he prepared to take the first of 272 police from their training base in Darwin to Dili.

Police trainer Bill Kirk, who led U.N. civilian police in Cambodia, said the East Timor team was following a long tradition of unarmed, neutrality by other U.N. police who operated in hot spots such as Cambodia and Bosnia.

"People watch you and if they see you are fair, impartial and not a threat, why would anyone harm you. We are not going in to dig trenches and put up sandbags," Kirk said on Sunday.

"The main thing is to contribute to a calm environment."

The United Nations set up a staging post and supply centre in early July in Australia's most northern city Darwin to train police and volunteers to oversee the East Timor ballot.

Kirk said the four-day intensive training undergone by the international team of police highlighted the need to build on their day-to-day police experience to reduce the threat of violence.

"The most important thing is their police training generally and their experience dealing with the public they serve. That is the best experience for such a mission," Kirk said. "In Cambodia you would hear shots all through the night and there was always tension, but in those situations the police get by on their training."

The police also received additional instruction on tropical health issues, map reading, geographic and cultural information on East Timor, as well as U.N. driving instruction.

Australian Federal Police Commander Tony Curtis, who will command the first U.N. police contingency, said police would be airlifted to Dili in "five waves over the next five weeks."

"Our role is still being determined by the United Nations and we'll be under instructions on touchdown from our head of mission," Curtis said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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