The Security Council yesterday condemned the violence which followed a UN-organised vote on the future of East Timor, but stopped short of taking any action.
In a statement after an emergency session lasting just over two hours, the Council condemned the violence "in the strongest terms" and called on Indonesia to prevent its recurrence.
Indonesia is exclusively responsible for law and order before and after the vote, under the terms of an agreement signed on May 5th with the UN and Portugal, the former colonial power in the East Timor.
Before the Security Council met, one of its 15 members, Canadian ambassador Mr Robert Fowler, said: "If there is a gross deterioration in the security situation that threatens both UN personnel and the people of Timor, I think the UN would have to be able to act."
However, New Zealand said yesterday non-UN intervention was possible if violence escalated. If there was a clear mandate for independence, a group of like-minded countries could decide "we can't go on hearing about this bloodshed the way it is now and not engage in some sort of a support base", said the Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr Don McKinnon.
Reflecting on the risk of a sudden escalation of violence when the result is announced, he said: "The worst that could happen is absolute chaos by the end of the week."
He declined to give any details of the type of intervention being considered, but said contributors could include Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the United States and possibly members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Australia quickly ruled out any non-UN emergency activity.
"We are surprised by the reported comments and sought clarification," an Australian foreign ministry spokesman said.
Mr McKinnon predicted: "The vote for independence will be extraordinarily high. One thing we always wanted was a very clear mandate . . . I believe we'll get that."
Indonesia responded to talk of intervention yesterday by saying there was no need for overseas troops.
Senator David Norris, in a statement issued in Dublin last night, warned that if the UN presence in East Timor was diminished there would be "a final massive bloodbath. This must be prevented at all costs. Those major players with a backlog of guilt to assuage, like the US, Britain, France and Australia, should now make unambiguously clear to the Indonesian authorities the negative economic consequences to them of any such eventuality, the Senator said.