Japan to recognize East Timor

Japan to recognize East Timor

JAPAN: Tokyo will formally recognize East Timor as a state and
establish diplomatic ties soon after it becomes fully independent
in May, Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said on Tuesday.

"I want to recognize it as a state promptly after its
independence in May and take necessary measures to establish
diplomatic relations," Kawaguchi was quoted as telling a cabinet
meeting.

The East Timorese people voted for independence from Indonesia
in a referendum August 1999. It then came under the supervision
of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor in October
1999.

The UN Security Council in late January renewed the mandate of
the UN mission until May 20, when the former Portuguese colony
that was once under Indonesian rule is to mark its independence.
--AFP