Documents Expose Britain’s Support for East Timor Invasion
A US university has released secret documents that expose the British Government’s support for Indonesia’s 1975 invasion of East Timor. On the 30th anniversary of the attacks, George Washington University has also revealed the murders of 5 journalists working in Timor were not investigated so as not to upset relations with Indonesia. Around two hundred thousand East Timorese have died in the conflict. The cover-up has raised questions about the true intentions of Western allies at the time of the invasion. Bruce Haig is a former Australian Foreign Affairs diplomat who worked in Indonesia in the 80s. He spoke to Alex Parry about why the information was kept under wraps, and says vital documents detailing the journalists’ murders were at first kept in a secret safe but mysteriously disappeared later.