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<DIV>SYDNEY MORNING HERALD <A
href="http://www.smh.com.au/">http://www.smh.com.au/</A><BR><BR>Elite forces
scouted island from April<BR>Date: 11/10/99<BR><BR><BR>By IAN HUNTER, in
London<BR><BR>Australian special forces and navy divers were scouting the
terrain of<BR>East Timor and Indonesian forces deployments inside the territory
months<BR>before the actual landing of United Nations-approved peacemakers
last<BR>month, a senior Australian defence source has revealed. Members of
the<BR>elite Perth-based Special Air Services Regiment and the Royal
Australian<BR>Navy's Clearance Diving Team (CDT) have been operating
clandestinely on<BR>the island since early this year. <BR><BR>The sole task of
the two elite units was reconnaissance in preparation for<BR>a large Australian
Defence Force (ADF) deployment. <BR><BR>The SAS's principal subjects have been
infrastructure in and around Dili,<BR>Indonesian ground force operations in the
hinterland and movements of<BR>military traffic across the West Timor frontier.
CDT divers scoured Dili<BR>harbour and nearby anchorages for anti-shipping
mines, explosives and<BR>traps. They also surveyed nearby sites in case an
amphibious landing<BR>became necessary. From the shore they scouted for
Indonesian military<BR>(TNI) and militia obstacles and deployments. <BR><BR>The
two units train together off the coast near Perth. While the SAS,<BR>whose
strength is put at "over 500" by the Defence Department, stayed at<BR>Swanbourne
for the Gulf War, the CDT performed Timor-style work in Kuwait<BR>during that
conflict. Their orders did not authorise offensive strikes,<BR>interdiction or
sabotage. Deployed by submarine and extracted by<BR>helicopter, they were
inserted when the Prime Minister put the<BR>Darwin-based 1 Brigade on 28-day
standby in April. <BR><BR>Although the helicopter flights were made at extremely
low level to avoid<BR>detection by radar, the TNI did make it known in June that
it was aware of<BR>unauthorised intrusions, though it suspected the flights
involved covert<BR>weapons shipments to independence fighters. <BR><BR>On June
9, the Indonesian armed forces commander, General Wiranto, ordered<BR>increased
naval and air surveillance off the East Timor coast after five<BR>helicopter
flights were reported in May and June. <BR><BR>The then East Timor military
commander, Colonel Tono Suratman, said there<BR>had been two helicopter landings
in the area of Larinkuten, near Viqueque,<BR>of a large helicopter similar to
the French-designed Puma. At the same<BR>time as the helicopter landings were
reported, a vessel with a helicopter<BR>landing pad had also been sighted off
East Timor's coast, he said. <BR><BR>The description fits with the Seahawk
helicopters operated from RAN<BR>frigates. <BR><BR>The covert operations before
the creation of the Interfet force are<BR>classified secret and will remain so
under the Federal Cabinet's 30-year<BR>rule. <BR><BR>A senior ADF special forces
and intelligence officer recently said the<BR>small force was observing
Indonesian military activity as a necessary<BR>precursor to full-scale
deployment. The same tactics were used by the<BR>British SAS during the 1982
Falklands and 1990-91 Gulf wars. <BR><BR>In July the same officer was saying
that the official outlook was that the<BR>ADF would deploy shortly and that
ensuing peacekeeping and United Nations<BR>stabilisation plans would be similar
to those effected in Cambodia in<BR>1991. <BR><BR>At that time, he said that ADF
headquarters in Canberra expected the<BR>eventual UN-sponsored intervention
force to be small and include only a<BR>minimal armed security force. ADF
planning did not anticipate an<BR>Australian component as large as 4,500
personnel. <BR><BR>The SAS and CDT cells transmitted constant reports on TNI and
militia<BR>activities to ADF headquarters and the ultra-secret Defence
Signals<BR>Directorate (DSD), also in Canberra. Only 20 or so people, including
the<BR>Prime Minister, were allowed access to these reports and
attached<BR>assessments. Most members of Cabinet have not seen them. The job of
the<BR>DSD has been to analyse the reports and conclude whether the
recent<BR>atrocities were a sustained policy of terror or a violent reaction
to<BR>impending independence. <BR><BR>The SAS cells, comprising no more than
five troopers, would never have<BR>been in a position to intervene. Such
operations would have required the<BR>support of the SAS's Sabre Squadron, which
has not seen action since the<BR>Vietnam War. <BR><BR>In armed contact with the
TNI and militia, the general observations,<BR>technical descriptions and
assessments of TNI capabilities in Timor have<BR>been invaluable.
<BR><BR>Major-General Peter Cosgrove, the Interfet leader, inadvertently
referred<BR>to the ongoing reconnaissance recently when he said he was
interested to<BR>read reports of what the TNI and militia groups were doing in
remote and<BR>border areas. The covert surveillance gave the ADF the most
comprehensive<BR>intelligence survey of the Indonesian military and paramilitary
activity<BR>as the East Timor situation deteriorated mid-year. This has
been<BR>uncomfortable knowledge in one respect. United States agencies
have<BR>complained to the Australian Ambassador, Mr Andrew Peacock, about
being<BR>denied access to Australian reports because they were known to be
much<BR>more detailed than anything Washington had. <BR><BR>Mr Peacock declined
to forward the reports because the names and<BR>operational deployment details
would be compromised. <BR><BR>The US has its navy and the CIA watching the zone.
Los Angeles class<BR>submarines are capable of positioning pods called Ivy Bells
on underwater<BR>communication links. After a month or two they are retrieved
and then<BR>decoded. <BR><BR>They are believed to have been listening to TNI
traffic for as long as the<BR>SAS has been on the island. <BR><BR><BR>Story
Picture: Daring to win ... Australian Special Forces soldiers during<BR>an
exercise. <BR><BR>This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised
use, copying or<BR>mirroring is prohibited. </DIV></BODY></HTML>