East Timor ballot may be delayed again

East Timor ballot may be delayed again

DILI, East Timor (JP): The United Nations Mission on East
Timor (UNAMET) indicated on Sunday the possibility of a second
delay in the scheduling of a popular consultation on the future
of East Timor.

Speaking after announcing a decision by the UN Secretary-
General Kofi Annan to move back voter registration, UNAMET chief
Ian Martin said a fixed date for the vote would be set by Annan
following consultation with the mission, the UN Security Council
on security developments in the province and others.

The UN-brokered direct ballot, in which the East Timorese will
determine whether to accept wide-ranging autonomy in Indonesia or
become independent, has been postponed from Aug. 8 to Aug. 22 or
Aug. 23.

In a letter to the UN Security Council on Saturday, Annan
postponed voter registration for three days to Friday to allow
time for concrete measures to improve the security situation here
after a high-level visit of Indonesian officials to the province
scheduled on Monday.

The delegation's agenda includes holding talks with Martin.
Among the eight Cabinet ministers will be Minister of Foreign
Affairs Ali Alatas, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian
Military Commander Gen. Wiranto and Coordinating Minister for
Political Affairs and Security Feisal Tanjung.

Citing incidents in Maliana, Viqueque and Liquica in which
violence involving UNAMET took place over the past two weeks,
Annan said the security situation remained a serious concern
despite the deployment of UNAMET personnel.

Annan said the incidents highlighted the problem of "militia
impunity".

He expressed full confidence that the Indonesian authorities
held the capacity to take meaningful steps toward providing a
guarantee that voters could go to the polls in safety and free of
intimidation.

Martin said Indonesia would have to bring armed civilian
groups under strict control, arrest those involved in incidents,
redeploy Indonesian military forces and disarm the warring
factions in order to meet the criteria for the operational phase
of the vote process to proceed.

Asked whether a three-day voter registration delay was
sufficient to restore order in the territory, Martin said he
received a guarantee from Wiranto on security matters.

Wiranto earlier implicitly acknowledged responsibility for the
actions of proindependence militias, saying the groups refused to
submit their weapons to the security authorities.

In response to Annan's decision, the UN secretary-general's
personal representative for East Timor, Francesc Vendrell, told
the Indonesian government to take immediate action to stop
violence and prevent the situation from deteriorating.

The rising tension since the government announced in January
it would release East Timor if autonomy was rejected has caused
thousands to flee, including migrant teachers. Minister of
Education and Culture Juwono Sudarsono said on Saturday that only
700 of 6,000 teachers would stay in the province regardless of
the outcome of the vote.

From Melbourne, Antara reported that Australian Minister of
Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer said he could understand the UN
secretary-general's decision, but added that it should not cause
another delay in the direct ballot.

On Saturday, the Japanese government presented 2,000 radio
receivers to UNAMET. The radios will enable East Timorese to
listen to the mission's informational broadcasts.(33/amd)