WAR ON MYSTERIOUS “NINJAS”

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East Timorese men arrested by policemen during their effort to chase 'ninjas' accused of murder and subversion in Covalima. -- PHOTO: AFP

The Straits Times – 06 Aprl 2010

DILI - EAST Timor police have declared war on mysterious 'ninjas' accused of murder and subversion in a new twist to the young country's struggle to establish security.

The latest whispers of ninjas to transfix the nation emerged after the murders of a 15-year-old girl in the western district of Bobonaro on Dec 22 and a baby boy in Covalima, also in the west, on Jan 19.

Police chief Longuinhos Monteiro donned full military gear to lead the operation, telling reporters that 'any ninjas who want to take us on, your final stop will be Santa Cruz cemetery.'

But many observers dismiss the ninja threat as a political game and suggest the authorities are using techniques of social control learned from the Indonesian army's brutal 24-year occupation. Kidnappings and disappearances were commonplace during the 1975-99 occupation, in which more than 100,000 people died, and the East Timorese remain edgy when it comes to rumours of shadowy assassins.

Indonesian death squads referred to as ninjas terrorised villagers and reports of masked ninjas committing crimes have persisted since formal independence in 2002. In 2008, residents of Dili and the northern coastal district of Liquica reported that ninjas were trying to kidnap their children.

Police launched a full-scale anti-ninja operation on Jan 22 and recently extended it for six months with support from the armed forces. Twenty members of dissident political group CPD-RDTL and underground political organisation Bua-Malus were arrested on Feb 5 on suspicion of involvement in 'ninja' activities.

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