Bernama.com
Malaysian National News Agency
M'sian Peacekeepers Deployed At Strategic Sites In Timor
Leste
General
May 27, 2006 17:02 PM
SHAH ALAM, May 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysian peacekeeping troops who
flew into Timor Leste Saturday will operate with Australian troops
to guard strategic buildings and key installations in the
violence-racked country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Najib Tun Razak.
He said the Malaysian troops, consisting of 219 army paratroopers
and commandos, arrived in the Timor Leste capital Dili at
6.30am.
They were deployed at the Dili Airport, port, government buildings
and embassies.
"The Australian military is coordinating the operation," he said at
a news conference after representing Prime Minister Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to launch the Rural Human Capital Development
Programme here today.
Najib, who is also the Defence Minister, said Malaysia would pay
for the peacekeeping mission.
"We are funding it but the expenditure is not much as it does not
involve buying new equipment," he said.
Two Royal Malaysian Navy vessels -- "KD Merong Mahawangsa" and "KD
Inderasakti" -- are ferrying the equipment of the Malaysian troops,
including armoured carriers, to Dili. They left the Lumut naval
base yesterday.
The troops have been taught the basic Tetum language, the spoken
language by the locals, to introduce themselves as
peacekeepers.
The fighting that began several weeks ago was sparked by the
government's decision to sack almost half the country's military
after the soldiers went on strike to protest against poor
conditions.
The violence escalated on Thursday when at least nine people were
killed and 27 wounded.
Referring to the admission of "mistakes" in the war in Iraq by US
President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on
Thursday, Najib said Malaysia had been consistent in its stand that
the sovereignty of all countries must be respected.
He said Malaysia did not support the invasion of Iraq which was not
sanctioned by the United Nations.
The military action clearly had created chaos in Iraq and clouded
the future of the country despite the recent formation of a new
national government, he added.
On the failure of National Service Training Programme dodgers to
respond to the final chance offered to them, Najib said the
government should not be faulted for taking legal action against
them.
-- BERNAMA
