Annan shocked by devastation

Annan shocked by devastation

DILI (AFP): Visibly shocked, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday the scorched-earth policy carried out in East Timor by Indonesian groups was worse than he had imagined as he ended a brief visit here.

"The devastation I have been able to see so far is worse than what I had imagined from the reports and what I saw on television. Reconstruction is an immense task," he said, before departing for Australia.

Addressing some 4,000 people from a small podium in front of the freshly painted Portuguese colonial governor's palace on Dili's waterfront, Annan was flanked by black-clad widows, whom he said were "symbolic representatives of all those who died during the violence".

Placards held by the crowd called for the Indonesian generals deemed responsible for the violence by UN and Indonesian rights inquiries to be brought to trial.