DATE=7/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDONESIA-EAST TIMOR (L)
NUMBER=2-252236
BYLINE=GARY THOMAS
DATELINE=BANGKOK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: U-N Secretary General Kofi Annan has called
for another delay in the referendum on the future of
East Timor. This marks the second time the date of
the vote has been changed. As V-O-A Southeast Asia
correspondent Gary Thomas reports, no official reason
was given for the change, but it is believed to be
linked to concerns about security.
TEXT: Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said
Wednesday the United Nations is seeking to change the
date of the East Timor vote to August 30th, more than
one week later than scheduled.
Speaking in a television interview in Singapore, Mr.
Alatas said the date of the vote was changed by U-N
Secretary General Kofi Annan. Ian Martin, head of the
U-N Mission in East Timor, confirmed there is to be a
delay but did not mention the new date.
However, under terms of the East Timor agreement, any
change must be agreed to by both Indonesia and
Portugal, East Timor's former colonial ruler.
Mr. Alatas said he does not know the reason for what
he termed "this slight delay." However, U-N officials
have continually expressed concern about the dangerous
security situation surrounding the upcoming vote. Mr.
Annan had said on Tuesday he was considering a new
date and would decide within a day or so.
The date of the plebiscite - dubbed a "popular
consultation" in deference to Indonesian government
sensibilities -- had already been changed once, from
August 8th to August 21st or 22nd.
Voters are being asked to in effect choose between
East Timor's remaining part of Indonesia or becoming
independent. The former Portuguese colony was invaded
by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed the following year.
But the prospect has opened deep divisions among the
territory's 800-thousand inhabitants. Bands of
marauding pro-Jakarta militias have been intimidating
voters in the run-up to the ballot.
Pro-independence activists have accused the Indonesian
military of arming and training the militias, and some
independent monitors have confirmed those allegations.
The army is believed to be bitterly opposed to the
vote, seeing it as a betrayal of the soldiers who died
fighting separatist rebels.
The United Nations is about halfway through its voter
registration drive. (SIGNED)
neb/gpt/jo/plm
28-Jul-1999 05:15 AM LOC (28-Jul-1999 0915 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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