Cosgrove's demand came after a confrontation on Sunday between UN troops and Falintil guerillas in the village of Cairu, about 80 kilometres south-east of East Timor's capital, Dili. A platoon commander of British Gurkha soldiers ordered the guerillas, who had been protecting local villagers from pro-Indonesian militia gangs, to surrender their weapons. Eventually the British commander backed down, allowing the guerillas to hold on to their arms. Under the UN mandate, all East Timorese civilians are obliged to remain defenceless. In the past month, hundreds of thousands have been forcibly driven from their homes and scores of villages razed to the ground.
Estimates range from scores to thousands of people having been butchered.
The few militia thugs apprehended by Interfet have been handed over to Indonesian troops, only to be quickly released. What concerns them most is sorting out a place for themselves in the administration that will be set up once the United Nations force has established full military control, with the assistance of the Indonesian army, over the territory. He proposed to meet with Interfet, aboard a Portuguese frigate, the Vasco da Gama, to discuss the guerillas' future role. In the past four days, Gusmao has been feted, in both Portugal and Ireland as East Timor's future president. In Lisbon, he was accorded honours due to a head of state.