YUGOSLAVIA BORN AGAIN - IN EAST TIMOR AND
TO THE SERVICE OF WESTERN IMPERIALISM
Former Yugoslav enemies unite
to help UN rebuild conflict-ravaged East Timor
AP, Thursday, Oct 02, 2003,Page 7
Four years after they fought each other in a bloody civil war, police
and soldiers from all over the former Yugoslavia are now working
together to rebuild another county torn apart by conflict.
And the former enemies are finding that working -- and playing
together -- on this tropical island thousands of kilometers from
their homeland is helping to heal old wounds.
"We have a regular little Yugoslavia right here in East Timor," said
Irhad Campara, a Muslim police officer from Bosnia who had gathered
with Slovene, Serb and Croat policemen for a nightly card game at
Dili's City Cafe.
Some of the cops wore their favorite red T-shirts with the image of
Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the post-World War II strongman who is now a
shared symbol of a nostalgic time when Yugoslavia was peaceful and
prosperous under his doctrine of "Brotherhood and Unity."
Tito died in 1980, and Yugoslavia fell apart a decade later amid
vicious ethnic fighting in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia's province of
Kosovo in which nearly 250,000 people died. NATO intervened in 1999,
bombing Serbia and facilitating the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic, now
on trial at a UN war crimes tribunal for fomenting the wars.
Today, for the first time, the former combatants are part of a UN
peacekeeping mission, serving as policemen and military observers in
East Timor, which gained independence last year after a bloody 24-year
war against Indonesian occupation.
The UN, which has administered the territory for two-and-a-half years,
still provides about 3,200 troops and 600 police in advisory roles to
the world's newest country.
Although initially guarded with one another, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs
and Bosnians quickly developed strong bonds and now say they feel
united in friendship and their mission.
"When I got here, I had no tropical kit," said Captain Slavimir
Nikolic, an officer from Serbia based in the isolated enclave of
Oecussi. "A Croatian colleague immediately came to my aid and gave me
his mosquito netting, bug repellants and all the other equipment I
needed."
Although the potential for renewed violence in their own part of the
world remains an international concern, with thousands of NATO troops
still in the region, the governments of Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro,
Macedonia and Croatia are considering sending soldiers to serve as blue
helmets in Liberia, Iraq, and other troublespots.
"Its time to put the lunacy of the [Balkan] wars behind us," Nikolic
said. "I can't describe how proud I am to be wearing the blue beret and
working together with other professionals to help bring peace to East
Timor."
Policing the aftermath of a war is a new experience for most
peacekeepers in Timor, but for those from the former Yugoslavia it is a
bitterly familiar routine.
"Unfortunately, we understand their situation better than almost any
other UN cops because we went through conflicts like this," said Drasko
Djeric, a Bosnian Serb policeman.
Their task now is to provide on-the-job training for the Timorese
police force, which is gradually assuming control of security in the
country of 750,000. This means everything from traffic control and
crime-fighting to dealing with civil disturbances like the riots that
shook the Dili last year.
Nikolic himself is part of a group of military observers whose task is
to monitor the security situation in the country and along the border
with Indonesia.
"We have people from virtually every corner of the world serving
together under the UN flag to assist the Timorese," said UN spokeswoman
Marcia Poole. "It's a prime example of what the UN is all about:
people, working together, with shared objectives, and realizing that
that which unites us is stronger than that which may divide us."
The tight-knit group of ex-Yugoslavs agree that they are renewing their
links and establishing strong bonds for the future.
Copyright © 1999-2003 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/10/02/2003070108
(ringraziamo Paolo per la segnalazione)
TO THE SERVICE OF WESTERN IMPERIALISM
Former Yugoslav enemies unite
to help UN rebuild conflict-ravaged East Timor
AP, Thursday, Oct 02, 2003,Page 7
Four years after they fought each other in a bloody civil war, police
and soldiers from all over the former Yugoslavia are now working
together to rebuild another county torn apart by conflict.
And the former enemies are finding that working -- and playing
together -- on this tropical island thousands of kilometers from
their homeland is helping to heal old wounds.
"We have a regular little Yugoslavia right here in East Timor," said
Irhad Campara, a Muslim police officer from Bosnia who had gathered
with Slovene, Serb and Croat policemen for a nightly card game at
Dili's City Cafe.
Some of the cops wore their favorite red T-shirts with the image of
Marshal Josip Broz Tito, the post-World War II strongman who is now a
shared symbol of a nostalgic time when Yugoslavia was peaceful and
prosperous under his doctrine of "Brotherhood and Unity."
Tito died in 1980, and Yugoslavia fell apart a decade later amid
vicious ethnic fighting in Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia's province of
Kosovo in which nearly 250,000 people died. NATO intervened in 1999,
bombing Serbia and facilitating the downfall of Slobodan Milosevic, now
on trial at a UN war crimes tribunal for fomenting the wars.
Today, for the first time, the former combatants are part of a UN
peacekeeping mission, serving as policemen and military observers in
East Timor, which gained independence last year after a bloody 24-year
war against Indonesian occupation.
The UN, which has administered the territory for two-and-a-half years,
still provides about 3,200 troops and 600 police in advisory roles to
the world's newest country.
Although initially guarded with one another, Slovenes, Croats, Serbs
and Bosnians quickly developed strong bonds and now say they feel
united in friendship and their mission.
"When I got here, I had no tropical kit," said Captain Slavimir
Nikolic, an officer from Serbia based in the isolated enclave of
Oecussi. "A Croatian colleague immediately came to my aid and gave me
his mosquito netting, bug repellants and all the other equipment I
needed."
Although the potential for renewed violence in their own part of the
world remains an international concern, with thousands of NATO troops
still in the region, the governments of Bosnia, Serbia-Montenegro,
Macedonia and Croatia are considering sending soldiers to serve as blue
helmets in Liberia, Iraq, and other troublespots.
"Its time to put the lunacy of the [Balkan] wars behind us," Nikolic
said. "I can't describe how proud I am to be wearing the blue beret and
working together with other professionals to help bring peace to East
Timor."
Policing the aftermath of a war is a new experience for most
peacekeepers in Timor, but for those from the former Yugoslavia it is a
bitterly familiar routine.
"Unfortunately, we understand their situation better than almost any
other UN cops because we went through conflicts like this," said Drasko
Djeric, a Bosnian Serb policeman.
Their task now is to provide on-the-job training for the Timorese
police force, which is gradually assuming control of security in the
country of 750,000. This means everything from traffic control and
crime-fighting to dealing with civil disturbances like the riots that
shook the Dili last year.
Nikolic himself is part of a group of military observers whose task is
to monitor the security situation in the country and along the border
with Indonesia.
"We have people from virtually every corner of the world serving
together under the UN flag to assist the Timorese," said UN spokeswoman
Marcia Poole. "It's a prime example of what the UN is all about:
people, working together, with shared objectives, and realizing that
that which unites us is stronger than that which may divide us."
The tight-knit group of ex-Yugoslavs agree that they are renewing their
links and establishing strong bonds for the future.
Copyright © 1999-2003 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2003/10/02/2003070108
(ringraziamo Paolo per la segnalazione)