Interfet spokesman Colonel Mark Kelly said the Indonesian armed forces had also asked Interfet to join a joint investigation into an incident on Sunday near the town of Motaain in which Interfet says Australian troops were fired on while still inside East Timor.

"We have offered them the use of our GPS system, we have offered them the use of our more detailed maps," Kelly said.

He added if Indonesia accepted the offer, it would ensure both sides knew where the border was.

But no response had yet been given to the offer, he said.

Kelly said Australian forces in Interfet were operating with maps dating from 1992 which used Indonesian data, and added he did not know why an Indonesian armed forces patrol which met with Australian officers after the incident on Sunday was using a Dutch map dating from the 1930s.

He said he hoped to hear later from Indonesian officers in Dili the first results of their inquiry into Sunday's clash, in which Interfet says two people appear to have been hit, and in which the Indonesian army says one Indonesian policeman was kiled and two injured.

Kelly said Interfet was also hoping to find out if Indonesian troops who were at the time in the company of miltias and police, according to Interfet, had fired on Australian soldiers.

Interfet commander Major General Peter Cosgrove would look favorably on the request for a joint investigation, which would include a visit to the site of the clash, he added.

But he denied reports from Indonesia that Interfet had been acting provocatively.

"They are wrong," he said. "The evidence that is available to us shows Interfet soldiers ...operated well within their rules of engagement.

"There is no attempt by Interfet to escalate this incident," he added, denying Sunday's firefight would harm relations between Indonesian officers and Interfet in Dili.

Asked whether it would be a good idea to set up a joint buffer zone in the border areas to forestall future incidents, Kelly said: "Armchair analysts always have great ideas. When an incident like this occurs the good idea bag opens really wide."

However, he did hint there may be a possible role for unarmed UNAMET (UN mission in East Timor) monitors in the border region.

An announcement would be made if anything like that was going to happen, Kelly said.

Copyright 1999 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

GPS UPDATE
Trimble Expands GPS For GIS
Sunnyvale - October 6, 1999 - Trimble introduced today the GeoExplorer 3 data collection and maintenance system, the industry's most rugged and technologically advanced handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) for Geographic Information System (GIS) applications.

GPS Update - SpaceDaily Special Report

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