Jose Ramos-Horta to visit S'pore

Jose Ramos-Horta to visit S'pore

SINGAPORE (AP): About 20 academics and experts from Asia,
including East Timor's Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta,
will meet in Singapore next week to discuss peacekeeping in Asia
and how the United Nations can improve operations in the region.

"It is hoped that through a candid exchange of opinions and
experiences, the meeting could produce practical suggestions for
improving UN peace operations that reflect the concerns of Asia,"
Simon Tay, the meeting's organizer, said in a statement on
Friday.

Tay, who is chairman of the Singapore Institute of
International Affairs and an independent member of Parliament,
said the meeting would focus on a UN report issued last August
that called for an overhaul of peacekeeping efforts in the
aftermath of UN failures in Rwanda and the Bosnian "safe haven"
of Srebrenica.

The report called for clearer peacekeeping mandates and
recommended that the UN Security Council hold off on approving
new missions until the United Nations has received firm pledges
for troops.