DATE=5/25/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=U-N TIMOR REPORT (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-262823
BYLINE=BRECK ARDERY
DATELINE=UNITED NATIONS
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The United Nations Security Council was told
today (Thursday) that progress toward independence in
East Timor is slow but steady. V-O-A Correspondent
Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations.
TEXT: The United Nations' assistant secretary-general
for peacekeeping, Hedi Annabi, told the Council the
stable security situation in East Timor will allow for
a reduction in the number of U-N peacekeepers there.
He said the force will be cut by 500, to slightly less
than eight-thousand troops, by October.
Despite the positive overall security situation, Mr.
Annabi said, common crime remains a problem. He added
that U-N police in some parts of East Timor are now
carrying sidearms.
The U-N official said the employment situation is
improving both in public works and private businesses.
Mr. Annabi says the problem of thousands of refugees
in West Timor, part of Indonesia, continues with pro-
Indonesian militia groups still active in some refugee
camps.
/// ANNABI ACT ///
The militias active in the camps have continued
their campaigns of disinformation about the
conditions in East Timor.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Annabi says recent flooding in West Timor caused
extensive casualties in some of the refugee camps.
United States representative Nancy Soderberg told the
Security Council that the level of militia activity in
the West Timor refugee camps and on the border must
remain a concern.
/// SODERBERG ACT ///
We remain concerned about the need to
permanently resolve this situation of the
remaining refugees and to break up the militias
definitively. There has been progress on that
but we want to see the progress reinforced and
made a permanent situation.
/// END ACT ///
Overall, however, Ms. Soderberg joined other members
of the Council in commending both the U-N
administration and the people of East Timor for the
progress they are making toward eventual independence.
She said that just because East Timor is not currently
front-page news, the international community should
stay engaged in its development. A conference of
donor nations for East Timor will be held next month
[June 21st-23rd] in Lisbon, Portugal. (Signed)
NEB/UN/BA/WTW
25-May-2000 17:17 PM EDT (25-May-2000 2117 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
