More poll officials stream into East Timor

DILI, East Timor (JP): A group of 60 international poll officials arrived on Friday, bringing their number to 306 for the August vote.

Another 76 will arrive on Saturday, with the rest to arrive in batches until the sending of international assignees from 24 countries is completed early next week, United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) spokesman Yasuhiro Ueki told a media conference here.

They will register eligible voters for the UN sanctioned self- determination ballot, which is slated for the third week of August, two weeks later than originally scheduled.

"It is expected that all the poll officials will be here next week, so that voter registration and the balloting will take place in accordance with the agreement signed in New York last May," Ueki said.

He said the officials could start working as soon as they received registration kits, which arrived on Wednesday from Darwin, Australia, and were dispatched to 200 polling sites across the province.

UNAMET first spokesman David Wimhurst, making his first appearance after several days of duties in Darwin, also was present at the conference.

Soon after arrival, 20 of the UN registrants were flown to Maliana, 12 to Ermera, 12 to Suai and eight to Oecusse. The remaining eight are posted in the provincial capital Dili. The other registration centers have been set for Baucau, Lospalos and Viqueque.

The three weeks of voter registration will commence on Tuesday, according to the UNAMET schedule.

Over 400,000 East Timorese are expected to cast ballots to choose whether to remain part of Indonesia or become independent.

Wimhurst said registration for East Timorese refugees in Atambua in East Nusa Tenggara, which shares a border with East Timor, were undecided.

"Arrangements for the refugees are still in process, but we want them to take part in the direct ballot," he said. "It would be better for them to return home for the vote, but I know this in not practical."

Over 4,500 East Timorese took refuge in Atambua to evade terrorization and intimidation from groups either in favor or against the autonomy offered by the government in January.

Wimhurst denied on Friday rumors that he was dismissed as UNAMET spokesman. He said he visited Darwin to discuss with local poll committees voting for East Timorese who reside in Australia.

Security

UNAMET chief Ian Martin and private assistant to the UN secretary-general Franscesc Vendrell visited Ermera, Covalima and Manufahi to inspect the availability of logistical equipment and security in the towns. They will report their findings to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Ueki said Vendrell had delayed his return to Jakarta to Monday because he would accompany six Cabinet ministers, including Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas, scheduled to visit here on that day.

The U.S.-based poll watchdog Carter Center, which will again send observers to Indonesia after its stint here during the June general election, also expressed concern about security conditions.

From its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, the Carter Center announced on Wednesday the sending of eight observers who will conduct fact-finding about necessary preconditions for a free and fair ballot.

"Our concern at this point is not as much about the voting itself as it is about the political climate prior to balloting," the center said.

"True democracy requires that people be allowed to cast their votes freely and without intimidation or coercion."

The center has opened an office here to base its eight long- term observers, who will be joined by additional observers to monitor events at the time of balloting.

In its message to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, the European Union voiced the same concern over the security situation in East Timor. The EU troika, consisting of the ambassadors of Finland, France and a representative of the EU, recalled the New York agreement, in which Indonesia is responsible for maintaining security, law and order in the former Portuguese colony before the vote.

Opposition against UNAMET continued on Friday with about 30 youths grouped in the Struggle for People's Sovereignty and National Unity (Perkasa) rallying in front of the UN representative office in Jakarta to demand the mission be disbanded.(33/amd)