In a letter to UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches has asked him to press for the withdrawal of all non-regular Indonesian army forces from East Timor and, if violence should erupt following the referendum on August 30, to take immediate steps to send a peacekeeping force to this troubled area.

The letter is the result of a pastoral visit by representatives of the Alliance to its member church, the Christian Church in East Timor (GKTT), and is signed by Prof. Dr Pieter N Holtrop, a vice-president of the Alliance, who led the team visit, together with Mgr. Carlos X Belo, Roman Catholic bishop of the diocese of Dili and Rev. Francisco M de Vasconcelos, general secretary of the GKTT. The text of the letter follows.

Your excellency,

As leaders of the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant church in East Timor, and as a representative of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches in Geneva, at the moment visiting its member church in East Timor, we convey to you our deeply felt concern about the present situation in East Timor, which the leadership of the Roman Catholic church and the Protestant church of East Timor consider to be most critical.

Unamet is doing a very good job in enabling the East Timor people to register as voters and monitoring the campaign period which started on Saturday August 14.

The reason for our concern is that while the Falintil forces have agreed to be concentrated in four places, the so-called militias which have sprung up since November 1998 are even now intimidating people, though not openly. As you know, several incidents have occurred, the last of which happened on August 12 in Viqueque. We are informed that these militias are supported by the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor and that members of Kopassus (special elite forces) are operating undercover in many places. An initiative of the Roman Catholic church in East Timor to bring together representatives of both sides at the conference in Jakarta in June this year resulted in agreement that either side would respect the outcome of the popular consultation on August 30. There is, however, reason to doubt that this agreement will work. A high-ranking spokesman of the pro-autonomy option is reported to have said: "If the outcome of the election is autonomy, blood will trickle; if the outcome is independence, then blood will flow." The facts combined constitute a serious threat to the freedom of the people of East Timor to express their opinion on August 30.

We therefore plead that you urge the Indonesian government to withdraw all non-regular forces such as Kopassus from East Timor.

Furthermore, we urge you to take immediate steps if violence erupts in the aftermath of the popular consultation, in case the majority of the East Timorese choose to be independent. No time should be lost in sending a peace-keeping force to minimize the suffering of the East Timorese people.