E. Timor gets foreign help

E. Timor gets foreign help

SINGAPORE (AP): Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and
Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong on Saturday agreed to
launch a program to help East Timor develop its human resources,
officials said.

The program would likely involve Japanese funding to train
East Timorese personnel - police, for example - in Singapore,
Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Chikahito Harada said.

"In East Timor, they don't have an established police system
yet. They have to develop that," Harada told The Associated
Press.

Japan might suggest using its system of koban, or small
neighborhood police boxes, in East Timor, Harada said.

Japan has pledged US$100 million toward helping develop East
Timor, a former Indonesian province which was torn by violence in
the process of gaining independence last year.

Kono, who arrived in Singapore Friday, was scheduled to visit
Indonesia later Saturday and East Timor Sunday, to meet leaders
in both countries. He was slated to return to Singapore Sunday
and to Japan on Tuesday.