An Irishman who came under fire this week when Indonesian soldiers attacked villagers in the troubled territory of East Timor has returned safely to the capital, Dili.
Mr Sean Steele (34), from Kimmage in Dublin, was forced to hide in the long grass of a river bank as troops shot above him at East Timorese fleeing into the countryside. He later saw the bodies of two villagers shot dead by troops which have been charged by the United Nations with policing this month's historic vote on independence.
The incident occurred in Viquque, on the half-island's south coast.
"There was a lot of tension when we arrived," said Mr Steele. "The [pro-integration] militia had blocked off roads, and the night before attacked a student campaign centre, smashing the place up, stealing equipment and shooting holes in the roof.
"I was just wandering around the outside the centre when I heard people running down the street. Militia men had come out of the Indonesian army base and were shooting in the air. I was watching from 25 yards away when suddenly a soldier walked out of the base, pointed his rifle down the street and started shooting indiscriminately."
Mr Steele fled in the direction of the river with a group of Timorese students. When the shooting died down they began to return to see if anyone was injured.
"We'd gone back up about 300 yards when we saw the military in front of us. They stopped and pointed their guns at us and began shooting. I jumped down a bank of six or seven feet with one of the students. The others ran across the river and took shelter behind bushes and trees on a hill. We could hear the soldiers above us talking. Then they started blasting away for 15-20 minutes. We hid for about 40 minutes and then went across the river to find the first of the bodies."
Both Timorese killed were in their twenties. One was shot through the head.
Mr Steele, a freelance journalist and member of the East Timor Ireland Solidarity Campaign, later returned to the village to seek refuge at a UN police base.
"The next morning we saw the militiamen smoking and having coffee outside the Indonesian army base, just 100 yards away from the UN post. It was like they were showing two-fingers to the international community."
