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