UN government in E. Timor still struggling: Leader<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Agencies): The United Nations' transitional
\ngovernment in East Timor is still struggling, leaving much to
\n"sheer luck" despite 18 months in power, the head of the UN
\nmission running the new nation said on Monday.<\/p>\n
"We're only just coming to terms with the reality of
\ngovernment. While we do much that is right, there is still far
\ntoo much left to improvisation and to sheer luck," Sergio Vieira
\nde Mello said.<\/p>\n
East Timor's medical facilities and judicial system, for
\nexample, need urgent attention, Vieira de Mello said at a
\nconference in Singapore.<\/p>\n
In trying to get the country running, the UN leadership in
\nEast Timor is dealing with severely under-trained surgeons and
\njudges "whose experience is confined to a university library," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Vieira de Mello was delivering the opening speech at a
\nconference on how to implement the findings of a report released
\nlast year by an international panel, which called for a total
\noverhaul of UN peacekeeping.<\/p>\n
He said the UN must learn from its past mistakes. In 1999, UN
\nSecretary-General Kofi Annan apologized for the organization's
\nfailure to halt the 1994 Rwandan genocide after it pulled its
\npeacekeepers out of the African nation.<\/p>\n
"We need to avoid the mistakes of the past and ensure that the
\ndeparture of a peace operation does not lead to a vacuum in the
\ncountry in question, or a sense of abandonment," Vieira de Mello
\nsaid. "This is what we are trying to avoid in East Timor."<\/p>\n
East Timor has been under UN rule since November 1999, after
\nthe former Indonesian territory voted for independence. The UN
\ntook over from an Australian-led international peacekeeping force
\nthat quelled a violent anti-independence backlash by Indonesia-
\nbacked militias.<\/p>\n
Vieira de Mello said the recent worldwide proliferation of
\npeacekeeping activities has highlighted the UN's limitations in
\nconducting such operations.<\/p>\n
"The organization remains the best option available, but it
\ncould be much better," he said.<\/p>\n
The front line of peacekeeping operations have moved from
\nmainly military and policing tasks to governance, he added.<\/p>\n
The delegates at the two-day Singapore conference, including
\nUN and government representatives and nongovernment
\norganizations, were drawing up a list of recommendations on
\npeacekeeping based on lessons learned from recent experiences.
\nThe list will be submitted to the UN secretary general and the
\nSecurity Council.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
\nreported from Sydney on Monday that Nobel peace prize winner and
\nEast Timorese foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta has run into
\nopposition to plans to become chief of the National Council.<\/p>\n
ABC said the 36-member council had demanded the United Nations
\ncompile a list of other possible candidates to succeed Xanana
\nGusmao as leader of the country's embryonic parliament.<\/p>\n
Popular independence leader Gusmao resigned from the position
\nlast week, citing in-fighting as his reason for quitting.<\/p>\n
On the weekend, the UN selected Ramos Horta to fill Gusmao's
\nplace as chief of the council. However, during a fiery meeting on
\nMonday, the council called for an open race.<\/p>\n
The National Council is entirely appointed by the UN
\nadministration and has no real power, but debates drafts of UN
\nregulations.<\/p>\n
It is seen as a possible precursor to a body for eventual East
\nTimorese self-rule.<\/p>\n
Ramos-Horta was the East Timorese independence movement's
\nchief spokesman at the UN throughout Indonesia's 24-year
\noccupation.<\/p>\n
East Timorese voted on Aug. 30, 1999 to secede from Indonesia
\nand to establish an independent state.<\/p>\n
UN peacekeepers were later deployed to restore order after
\npro-Indonesian militias waged a brutal scorched-earth campaign
\naimed at terrorizing East Timor's population of 800,000 into
\nremaining loyal to Jakarta.<\/p>",
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