No decision on E. Timor peacekeeping force: UN<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (JP): No decision has been made as to whether
\na United Nations peacekeeping force will be deployed in this
\nprovince during the direct ballot to choose between autonomy and
\nindependence in July, UN officials said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We have been studying that possibility,\" Samuel Tamrat, one
\nof six members of UN advance team, said upon arrival here.<\/p>\n
Team leader Francesc Vendrell said it was still too early for
\nUN envoys to come to such a recommendation. He said the mission
\nof his team was to pave the way to conduct the UN-sponsored
\nballot.<\/p>\n
\"We are here to gather thoughts and ideas from all parties
\nconcerned (to) present during the next tripartite talks,\" said
\nVendrell, the UN director for the Asia Pacific region.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Portugal will resume their talks on East Timor
\nmediated by the UN secretary-general in New York on April 13 and
\nApril 14.<\/p>\n
The two countries agreed earlier this month on the direct
\nballot method to gauge the opinions of East Timorese, instead of
\na referendum, which Indonesia resisted.<\/p>\n
Along with Vendrell and Tamrat, the team comprises Horacio
\nBoneo, Terry Burke, Michael Dora and Henry Thompson.<\/p>\n
The UN team arrived a day late after their Merpati aircraft
\nmet engine trouble on Tuesday and was forced to fly back to
\nDenpasar in Bali.<\/p>\n
Upon their arrival, they held private meetings with Governor
\nAbilio Soares and chief of the Wira Dharma district military
\ncommand overseeing the province Col. Tono Suratman.<\/p>\n
During their stay, the team will talk to local leading
\nfigures, including Nobel laureate and Dili Bishop Carlos Belo and
\nBaucau Bishop Basilio do Nascimento. They have also arranged
\nmeetings with leaders of both proindependence and prointegration
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
Vendrell said the team met jailed East Timorese leader Jose
\nAlexandre \"Xanana\" Gusmao in Jakarta before heading for the
\nformer Portuguese colony.<\/p>\n
\"Xanana positively responded to our mission here,\" Vendrell
\nsaid, but added that the proindependence National Resistance
\nCouncil for an Independent East Timor (CNRT) group leader was not
\nthe only key person in the settlement of the two-decades-long
\ndispute.<\/p>\n
Vendrell, Tamrat and Boneo are slated to return to Jakarta on
\nThursday while Burke, Dora and Thompson will stay until Sunday.<\/p>\n
Separately, chairman of the East Timor Movement for
\nReconciliation and Unity, Manuel Carrascalao, said East Timorese
\nwould be prepared to accept the result of the ballot.<\/p>\n
\"Let the show go on without intervention or manipulation,\"
\nCarrascalao said after meeting with the UN team.<\/p>\n
He accused the Armed Forces of trying to retain the status quo
\nin East Timor despite the mounting demands for independence.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, the Solidarity for Peace in East Timor (Solidamor)
\ngroup called on the General Election Commission (KPU) to delay
\nthe elections in the province until after the people determine
\ntheir fate in July. (43\/33\/amd)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-decision-on-e-timor-peacekeeping-force-un-1447893297",
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