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