--- Begin Forwarded Message ---
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 18:06:26 +1100
From: John Cain <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: the Motaain (EAST TIMOR) shooting incident <fwd>
Sender: John Cain <[log in to unmask]>



Peter Nugter's piece on the "Motaain Incident" is interesting, but seems to
me it may suffer a major flaw. I believe Peter has the wrong location for
Motaain. Perhaps there is more than one place of this name in Timor? (In
their protest to the UN over this incident the Indonesians spelt it "Mato
Ain", but INTERFET spells the place "Motaain" in their press release).

In our library we have a Dutch 1:100,000 series of Timor, "Res. Timor en
Ohderh." including a sheet "Atamboea, Blad 91-92/XLVI en 91/XLV" (partially
surveyed 1936-1938, produced in Batavia 1941). I have placed a scan of a
section of this map at:
        http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/maps/amc/motaain.htm

According to this map, Motaain is a coastal settlement, on the north coast
of Timor, just on the west side of the Indonesia/East Timor border.
According to the USBGN gazeteer of Indonesia, Motaain is at 8 degrees 58
minutes south, 124 degrees 57 minutes east -- this is coastal location of
Motaain shown on the Dutch map. This fits in with the news reports of the
"Motaain incident" at the time, such as an interview with an Australian
soldier who described "local people fishing on the beach who disappeared
rapidly when the shooting started" (ie. the incident on the coast).

(As an aside, even in their official protest to the UN,
        http://www.deplu.go.id/new/excerptof14oct99.htm
the Indonesians admit that their troops fired first).

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the encounter, Peter's hypothetical
scenario does not fit what I understand to be the actual location where the
incident took place (I could of course be mistaken). Unfortunately I do not
have the Indonesian 1:25,000 scale maps (which is what the INTERFET forces
were apparently using). Peter, if you have the Indonesian 1:25,000 scale
map showing the border at the north coast I'd be very interested to see a
scan of that section?

John Cain
[log in to unmask]
(Map Curator, University of Melbourne Library, Australia)
(speaking in a purely personal capacity on this occassion)


Peter Nugter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Dear MAPS-L users (especially the Australian ones),
>
>There are some unsolved problems about the Motaain shooting incident. A
>copy of this text + a detailled map is on the index page of MAPSWAP. Who
>knows (a lot) more about it?
[snip]
>* Could the mystery be solved when suggesting the following hypothesis?;
>INTERFET troops patrolled from Kabupaten Bobonaro (Kabupaten = regency) on
>East Timor eastwards thinking (or not thinking at all) they stay inside
>East Timor but in fact forgetting the frontier makes a strange twist in
>such a way that one travelling eastwards in fact enters West Timor!
>I am neutral in this question but it seems to me 1 - 0 for the Indonesians
>and half-time in sight.
>If I am wrong, please let me know!
>
>
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>Director: Peter Nugter,
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>Fax:    + 31 - 50 - 527 - 85 - 01
>--- End Forwarded Message ---
>

John Cain
[log in to unmask]
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