Province told to secure UN visit<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating minister for political, social and
\nsecurity affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday he had
\nordered military and police chiefs in East Nusa Tenggara to
\nsecure the visit of the UN inquiry team next week.<\/p>\n
\"I have contacted the provincial police chief and the regional
\nmilitary commander and asked them to provide a security guarantee
\nfor the (UN) delegation, because if anything unwarranted happened
\nto them, it will only make the Indonesian nation look bad,\"
\nSusilo said after a meeting with Vice President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the visit by a delegation from the UN
\nSecurity Council to East Timor at the end of this week and to
\nWest Timor and Jakarta next week.<\/p>\n
Their visit comes in the wake of a UN Security Council
\nresolution in September that called for the disarmament and
\ndisbandment of East Timorese militias in West Timor following the
\nmurder of three UN relief workers there.<\/p>\n
\"The UN Security Council delegation will be in Atambua on
\nNovember 13-14 and on November 16-17, they will be in Jakarta,\"
\nSusilo said.<\/p>\n
\"The government accepts the visit of the delegation and
\nunderstands the arrival as not only part of the resolution but
\nalso as a reaction to the response of the government of
\nIndonesia,\" Susilo said.<\/p>\n
Jakarta initially opposed the UN delegation visit, while
\nSusilo said in September that the government \"should be given a
\nchance to do what we have to do\".<\/p>\n
But Jakarta relented just before an October meeting of the
\nConsultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) in Tokyo, amid concern that
\nits failure to comply with the resolution could curb the inflow
\nof much-needed foreign assistance.<\/p>\n
Susilo said the government understood the delegation, which
\nwill include representatives from Argentina, Malaysia, Tunisia,
\nUkraine and Britain, \"wishes to settle the problems in the most
\njust and wisest manner possible.\"<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesian government is ready to cooperate with the
\nUnited Nations and with the UN Transitional Administration in
\nEast Timor (UNTAET),\" he added.<\/p>\n
The murder of the UN workers sparked an international outcry
\nand resulted in the hurried exodus of around 400 foreign aid
\npersonnel who were working with about 130,000 East Timorese
\nrefugees remaining in West Timor.<\/p>\n
Some 250,000 people fled to West Timor after the people in the
\nformer Indonesian province voted for independence in August 1999.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a report
\njust released that recovery in post-referendum East Timor was on
\ntrack \"thanks to rapid and generous donor response\".<\/p>\n
\"With these resources, the humanitarian community was able to
\nprovide the necessary assistance at an early enough stage to
\nprevent the deterioration of the physical condition of the
\nbeneficiary population,\" Annan said in his report to the General
\nAssembly.<\/p>\n
He predicted that the engagement of the international
\ncommunity in East Timor will be required \"for the foreseeable
\nfuture in all sectors\".(44\/byg)<\/p>",
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