Horta quits E. Timor's interim parliament
Horta quits E. Timor's interim parliament
DILI, East Timor (AP): Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos Horta
on Monday stepped down from East Timor's interim parliament to
return to his former position as cabinet member for foreign
affairs.
In a letter addressed to the United Nations administration in
East Timor, Ramos Horta said he was resigning from the 36-member
National Council after it rejected his bid for the top post of
speaker last week.
He said he would return to his previous post as foreign
minister in the nine-member UN and East Timorese transitional
cabinet.
"All National Council members persuaded me that the portfolio
of foreign affairs is very important to East Timor and I should
continue in that position," Ramos Horta said.
The position of National Council speaker was left vacant after
independence leader Jose Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmao resigned in
March, citing political infighting in the body.
On April 9, the National Council elected veteran independence
campaigner Manuel Carrascalao as its new speaker over Ramos
Horta, who was supported by the UN authority in his bid.
East Timor is currently under the administration of the world
body, following a vote for independence from Indonesia in 1999.
The National Council is an unelected body, serving as East
Timor's embryonic parliament. The council will be dissolved ahead
of elections in August for an assembly to draft the country's
first constitution.
East Timor is expected to achieve independence early next
year.
In an address to the National Council on Monday, Ramos Horta
also urged members to continue to support the presence of the
United Nations in East Timor in the future.
In recent months, the international administration has been
criticized by East Timorese for not doing enough to rebuild the
country and for the disparity in standards of living between
locals and international UN staffers.
"We should not look at the presence of the UN in East Timor as
new colonizers," Ramos Horta said.
Meanwhile in Sydney, Bishop Carlos Belo appealed on Monday for
an international tribunal to punish crimes against humanity in
East Timor and help the fledgling nation come to terms with
atrocities committed after it voted for independence from
Indonesia.
Belo said the United Nations should set up an international
court similar to those already meting out justice for atrocities
in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
"Justice must not be restricted to a chosen few. It must be
universal," the Nobel laureate said in a speech in Sydney.
"What is good for Bosnia or Rwanda is also good for East Timor.
There must be no hiding place for political monsters such as
unleashed the destruction of East Timor in 1999."
Belo said the East Timorese did not trust investigations
launched in Jakarta into atrocities sparked by the former
Indonesian province's vote for independence in August 1999.
Hundreds of people were killed and an estimated 80 percent of
East Timor's infrastructure was destroyed by pro-Indonesian
militia gangs and troops following the popular vote that ended 24
years of rule by Jakarta.
UN staff are already investigating the atrocities and are
expected to indict as many as 400 suspects, including some top
Indonesian military officers.
The Indonesian probe was launched under a UN directive to
prosecute members of its military and civil administration for
their roles in the blood bath or face the possible establishment
of a UN tribunal.