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.