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East Timor set to gain independence in May next year

The UN Security Council endorsed on Wednesday the May 20 date East Timorese have set for independence and said some 5,000 peacekeepers and other UN personnel would stay in the territory until then.

The council, in a formal statement, agreed to maintain soldiers, civilians and police trainers in East Timor between six months and two years after independence.

But some members during an all-day debate chaired by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, weighed how much cash would be available after May 20, the independence date set by East Timorese, for the current complement of UN personnel.

East Timor has been under UN administration since late 1999, following 24 years of often-brutal occupation by Indonesia, preceded by four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule.

An August 1999 UN-organized independence vote resulted in a scorched-earth campaign by Indonesian-army backed militia that left East Timor, which shares an island with Jakarta-run West Timor, in ruins. Australian troops halted the rampage.

Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN administrator in East Timor, pleaded for the council to stand by the territory for some time after independence, particularly in funding about 100 technical UN staff.

"It is inconceivable that new institutions can be created in two years," he said. "The UN administration was starting from scratch, sometimes even from below zero."

He said presidential elections were expected to be held in March or April and acknowledged that the Sept. 11 attacks against the US and the subsequent war in Afghanistan might divert funds from East Timor.

"We are concerned that not only attention but resources would now be channeled almost exclusively to Central Asia," he said. "I can only say `do not forgot East Timor.'"

Mari Alkatiri, chief minister of East Timor's recently elected assembly, said his country needed UN funds as well as bilateral and World Bank aid to build a viable administration for the impoverished nation for some time to come.

With unemployment up to 80 percent, he said "it is critical that we create the necessary conditions to stimulate domestic private sector activity and attract sound foreign investment."

But France's UN ambassador, Jean-David Levitte, again said council funding should be cut for civilian staff after independence by letting the 189-member General Assembly assume the responsibility. Most diplomats, however, believe the assembly has no provisions or funds for such a venture.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, whose report was endorsed by the council, said earlier this month the current complement of nearly 9,000 UN peacekeepers would be cut to 5,000 by independence. Civilian staff would be reduced from some 550 to about 100 by May.
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