We'll stay till job's done, says PM
AUSTRALIA is prepared to stay as long as it takes to restore order in East Timor, with the endorsement of the UN.
John Howard said yesterday Australia had watched the "deteriorating situation in East Timor for some months" but could not intervene until there was a request from Dili.
"We must remember that East Timor is an independent country," the Prime Minister told Sydney radio station 2UE.
"And people say you should have seen it coming. The answer is yes, I did, but until you are asked, it happens to be an invasion."
Mr Howard said Australia had prepared for the intervention but could not act until there was a request.
"We arranged for some ships to go to Darwin, we arranged for troops to be in a state of readiness from both Townsville and Darwin, so that we have been able to respond quickly," he said.
He said he could not say how long the troops would remain in East Timor.
"There's no point in pulling out early," he said. "It's a big thing to send 1300 troops in. It's a very foolish, short-sighted thing to pull them out before their job is completed.
"These tasks always last longer than you expect at the beginning, and I'm not going to make the mistake of saying 'Well, I think they'll be out in x weeks or y months. I can't do that.
"There is a significant governance problem inside East Timor, there's no point in beating about the bush.
"The country has not been well-governed and I do hope that the sobering experience for those in elected positions of having to call in help from outside will induce the appropriate behaviour inside the country.
"If things get out of control, and they clearly have, and outside help is needed, then those who provide the outside help are entitled to ask of those who they're helping, 'Will you make sure that you run the country in future in a way that doesn't allow this to happen'."
Mr Howard said he did not think it would be necessary to withdraw troops from other areas, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, to meet the emergency in East Timor.
"The total number of troops we had in East Timor at the height of the intervention, the Interfet force in '99, was several thousand more than what we're likely to have on this occasion," he said. "I am satisfied that we can keep our commitments and there is no need for there to be talk of pulling people out of Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not the time to come home prematurely from Iraq."
Mr Howard said the lessons learnt from the previous UN-mandated intervention in East Timor - and the timing of the withdrawal - might influence the decision of when to bring Australian troops home.
"But you can't invade them, you can't tell them, you have to try by a process of encouragement and being a good friend," he said.
Australia's assistance to East Timor following the 1999 vote for independence may mean the country will be more likely to listen to Australia's advice, he said.
Map of Dili
The Australian presence in East Timor so far has been characterised by vigorous patrolling into the capital Dili, with the main goal being to lock down the city in order to separate and concentrate the various conflicting forces in East Timor.  Despite the Australian military being provided strong rules of engagement by the East Timorese government, so far no soldiers have fired their weapons or been fired upon, although they might have been fired over by gangs earlier today.  Outside the Hotel Timor today, where East Timorese Prime Minister Alkatiri was about to hold a press conference, an Australian patrol arrested what appeared to be two gangs about to storm the hotel with the help of reinforcements.  The men numbered around 30, carrying machetes, knifes, spears, slingshots, and arrows.  The Prime Minister claimed that the gangs were attempting a coup d'etat.  Civilian gangs, allegedly provided arms by the East Timorese military, have so far been blamed for much of the violence in Dili.

As the rest of the 1300 strong Australian deployment is expected to arrive in East Timor tomorrow, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has said that although his government did foresee the current situation in East Timor, military action would have constituted an invasion until mandated through the United Nations' or East Timorese government's request.  "...People say you should have seen it coming. The answer is yes, I did, but until you are asked, it happens to be an invasion." said Mr Howard.  East Timor requested military assistance from Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal on May 23, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta explaining that the government "...couldn't control the situation,"; all four nations responded positively to the request.

Despite one newspaper running the headline "We'll stay till job's done, says PM", the Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston has said that he hopes the Australian military will be able to be replaced within a few months by a UN peacekeepers.  In any case, ACM Houston has said that he is believes the Australian presence will stabilise the situation soon, perhaps aided by the good relations that exist between the ADF and the leader of the rebel group, Major Alfredo Reinado.  MAJ Reinado was trained by the ADF for three months and has openly welcomed the arrival of the peacekeeping force, saying that the deployment is the "only solution" in the face of the government's inability to resolve the conflict.

After praising the speed of the deployment, Washington revealed that the US assisted the transport of Australian troops to position in Townsville and Darwin two weeks earlier.

Indonesia has now closed its border to East Timor, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono saying that "besides security reasons, the closure of the border is to prevent the possibility of issues that may worsen the image of Indonesia."