DATE=10/26/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=AUSTRALIA / EAST TIMOR (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-255479
BYLINE=GREG JENNETT
DATELINE=CANBERRA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Australia has welcomed the United Nations
Security Council's decision on the formal
establishment of a transitional authority in East
Timor. Greg Jennett reports from Canberra, Australia
will take a back-seat role in the new administration,
but has offered to lead the peacekeeping force.
TEXT: Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
says the United Nations has produced a strong mandate
for the transitional administration and its 11-
thousand troops, police and military observers.
/// DOWNER ACT ///
We've been working very closely with the British
and other Security Council Members in the
formulation of the resolution. This, of course,
is an historic moment because we're now seeing
the status of East Timor move from being a
province of Indonesia to being administered by
the United Nations, probably for around two or
three years, and finally for East Timor to move
to full independence.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Downer has supported the appointment of Brazilian
diplomat, Sergio Viera de Mello, to lead the U-N
mission.
Australia's five-thousand troops currently in East
Timor as part of the international peacekeeping
presence will be wound down to between 15-hundred and
two-thousand by January. This will give financial
relief to the Australian government, which has been
grappling with the budgetary implications of the
commitment.
But the question of who will lead the peacekeeping
force remains the subject of delicate negotiation.
Mr. Downer acknowledges the sensitivities of the
Association of Southeast Asian countries [ASEAN],
which would prefer to see one of their own command the
peacekeepers.
He says Australia has offered to lead the force, but
would not stand in the way of a Malaysian commander if
that is the decision made by the U-N Secretary
General.
/// 2ND DOWNER ACT ///
I think if the Secretary -General asked
Australia to lead the peacekeeping operation, if
that were to happen we would agree to do it. We
are not falling over ourselves to do it. I
think there would be many in ASEAN who wouldn't
be surprised, and I think those who like the
people such as the Indonesians and the
Malaysians, need to remember that the overall
leader of the transitional authority is a
Brazilian. He is not an Australian.
/// END ACT ///
The Australian government is also turning its
attention to rebuilding relations with Indonesia, and
it has welcomed the new cabinet appointments made in
Jakarta. (Signed)
NEB/GJ/GC/WTW
26-Oct-1999 06:55 AM EDT (26-Oct-1999 1055 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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