Australia broke int'l in gasfield, says E. Timor

Australia broke int'l in gasfield, says E. Timor

Agence France-Presse, Dili

Tiny East Timor accused its giant neighbor Australia on Friday
of breaching international law by issuing exploration licenses in
a disputed section of a giant gasfield in the sea area between
them.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri said his country is committed to
honoring agreements with Canberra about the Greater Sunrise
field.

However, he said his country's parliament would find it easier
to ratify their International Unitization Agreement on exploiting
the gasfield "if Australia was acting in accordance with
international law."

Alkatiri has criticized Australian claims that part of Greater
Sunrise is under its exclusive control. He says the Timor Sea
Treaty which both countries have signed recognizes that its
status is still in dispute.

The treaty gives Australia interim rights to at least 82
percent of the total revenues from the reserves until Dili and
Canberra reach agreement on where their maritime boundary should
fall.

Australia wants to keep the border which was agreed with
Jakarta after Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975. This would
give it the lion's share of the reserves.

But newly independent East Timor argues that the border should
lie at the mid-point between the two countries, in line with
international practice.

In March 2002, Australia withdrew from the International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea before the dispute reached the
arbiter.

Alkatiri, in a statement on Friday, again took Australia to
task for issuing licenses in disputed areas and for refusing to
agree a timeframe to settle the border.

Its stance, he said, "does not help Timor-Leste's (East
Timor's) trust in Australia to abide by any legally binding
agreement entered into."

East Timor was Asia's poorest nation when it became
independent in May 2002. It counts on oil and gas reserves to end
its dependence on foreign aid.