DATE=4/27/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N-EAST TIMOR (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261782
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: A senior U-N official presented a generally
positive report today (Thursday) about the situation
in East Timor. VOA Correspondent Breck Ardery reports
from the United Nations.
TEXT: U-N Assistant Secretary-General for
Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi told the Security Council
increased cooperation between the United Nations and
the Indonesian government is starting to solve
problems in West Timor. West Timor, part of Indonesia,
is where militia groups opposed to East Timorese
independence are located and where more than 100-
thousand refugees from East Timor remain.
Mr. Annabi says Indonesia's military has been helpful
in preventing incursions into East Timor by the
militias and that Indonesia continues to provide
humanitarian aid to the refugees.
///Annabi act///
The United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees reports that access to the camps has
improved considerably, and the government of
Indonesia has to date been flexible in its
continuation of aid to the refugee camps in West
Timor.
///end act///
Mr. Annabi describes as a "positive development" a
recent agreement between the United Nations and the
Indonesian government to work together to investigate
human rights abuses in East Timor last year.
The U-N official points out that the economic
conditions in East Timor remain a primary concern with
the infrastructure destroyed and few employment
opportunities available. He says the U-N
administration is organizing a civil service and
trying to attract other jobs to East Timor but
concedes many East Timorese are disappointed at the
slow pace of economic recovery.
///Rest opt///
Mr. Annabi says he is also concerned about statements
by a leading East Timorese group (The National Council
of Timorese Resistance) that it wants to establish an
armed forces service for East Timor. The U-N official
says the issue of an armed service in East Timor is
complex and sensitive and its implications must be
carefully studied.
Mr. Annabi gave the Security Council no target date
for the establishment of East Timor as a sovereign
nation. The consensus on the Council seems to be that
the U-N administration in East Timor must continue
until the political and economic conditions improve
enough to make sovereignty sustainable.(Signed)
NEB/UN/BA/LSF/PT
27-Apr-2000 15:17 PM EDT (27-Apr-2000 1917 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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