Japan raises aid for Timor

Japan raises aid for Timor

TOKYO (AP): Japan said Thursday it will contribute US$100
million to an international aid package designed to help East
Timor recover from the brutal end of Indonesian rule.

The funds are part of a three-year, $307 million aid package
that international donors are assembling during a two-day meeting
in Tokyo.

Foreign Ministry official Shinichi Mizuta said Japan's new aid
comes on top of a total of $194 million it has already pledged
toward East Timor's reconstruction.

That total includes $100 million that went to a United Nations
trust fund for the multinational peacekeeping force operating in
East Timor.

East Timorese overwhelmingly voted to secede from Indonesia in
a U.N.-supervised ballot Aug. 30.

The result triggered a wave of violence and destruction by
anti-independence militia gangs. Many claim they were organized
and armed by the Indonesian military.

Indonesia ruled the former Portuguese colony for 24 years.