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.