UN completes count of E. Timor's people<\/p>\n
DILI, East Timor (AP): UN officials said on Monday they had
\ncompleted a count of East Timor's population as part of
\npreparations for a historic Aug. 30 election, which they say will
\nbe held on schedule.<\/p>\n
UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello said 737,811 East
\nTimor residents had been registered. The count will provide data
\nfor the compilation of an electoral roll of East Timorese voters
\nover the age of 17.<\/p>\n
They will elect an 88-member assembly to draft a constitution
\nthat will take it to full independence next year.<\/p>\n
De Mello estimated that around 380,000 people will be eligible
\nto vote. The final number of voters will be confirmed after a 10-
\nday challenge period to the count later this month, he said.<\/p>\n
The population registration will also provide valuable
\neconomic and social data, he said.<\/p>\n
"It has provided all the inhabitants of this country with an
\nidentity, which they had, in many instances, lost," de Mello
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, UN deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette
\narrived on Monday for a four-day visit to assess election
\npreparations.<\/p>\n
"I am very pleased to see the preparations are going to
\nschedule. I am assured that over the coming weeks there will be
\nactive debate because I think it is important these elections
\nengage the population," said Frechette.<\/p>\n
The United Nations has been administering East Timor since
\n1999 after its people voted to end Indonesian rule of their
\nhomeland.<\/p>\n
That ballot triggered a wave of violence by anti-independence
\nmilitiamen that resulted in hundreds of deaths, the displacement
\nof tens of thousands of people and widespread devastation.<\/p>",
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