Annan concerned on E. Timor

Annan concerned on E. Timor

UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed concern Friday over a reported upsurge in violence in East Timor while Indonesia and Portugal prepared for a new round of talks aimed at resolving the conflict.

"The secretary-general has been following with concern the reports of the recent violent incidents in East Timor, which have resulted in the loss of life and are causing considerable human suffering," said a UN statement.

"The secretary-general has called on all parties concerned to exercise restraint," it added.

Annan is scheduled to hold the next in a long-running series of meetings on East Timor with the foreign ministers of Indonesia and Portugal on June 19 and 20 in New York.

The meeting, to try to find an internationally acceptable solution to the issue, were initiated in 1983 by then Secretary- General Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru.

Police in Indonesia had reported that two police officers, four separatist rebels and nine civilians were killed in a series of violent incidents in several towns in East Timor in the run up to the May 29 general election.