Australian peacekeepers end East Timor mission

Australia’s military today ended six years of peacekeeping duties in East Timor, wrapping up a mission that strained ties with Indonesia and heralded a new era of regional military intervention by Canberra.

The troops were dispatched to East Timor in 1999 as part of a UN force days after the tiny country voted to break free from 24 years of Jakarta rule in a ballot organised by the world body. The vote triggered a rampage by Indonesian troops and their allied militias that left 1,500 people dead.