E. Timor unhappy about ARF decision

E. Timor unhappy about ARF decision

EAST TIMOR: East Timor is unhappy it will have to wait at least another year to join a 23-member regional security forum, the foreign minister of Asia's newest nation said on Thursday.

East Timor can become a member of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in 2005 at the earliest because the group handles applications on a case-by-case basis and Pakistan will be admitted at Friday's annual ARF meeting in Jakarta.

"I would have preferred that we join this year and I'm not very pleased that no action was taken for East Timor to join ARF," Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta told AFP.

"After all, we qualify more than any other country, like Pakistan or others, in joining ARF, because we are a Southeast Asian country. We believe East Timor should have joined even last year," he said. -- AFP