East Timor: What Awaits the Peacekeepers?

Anti-independence forces in East Timor spent their Sunday like a boxer getting in a few last punches after the bell. The capital of Dili was quiet earlier in the day for an inspection by Australia's Major General Peter Cosgrove, commander of the multinational force going into East Timor today for a multi-month peacekeeping mission. But within an hour after his plane left to return to Darwin, Australia, gunfire and explosions resumed around the Dili airport.

That may be a common occurrence for the some 2,500 Australian soldiers due on the ground by Monday afternoon local time (early Monday morning EDT). The first wave of what will eventually become an 8,000-member force (including a contingent of 250 Nepalese Gurkhas toting their foot-long kukri knives) will be marching into what could quickly become an ugly situation. Indonesian president B. J. Habibie's decision to allow in the foreign cavalry has led to rising nationalist sentiment and unrest that could erupt as other parts of the ethnically diverse archipelago lobby for their independence as well. And in East Timor, officers who helped organize the militias' killing spree and are now facing possible trial as war criminals aren't going to be in much of a mood to go quietly. Which could mean several long months for the Aussies before a replacement U.N. force comes in.