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)