Province told to secure UN visit
Province told to secure UN visit
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating minister for political, social and
security affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Thursday he had
ordered military and police chiefs in East Nusa Tenggara to
secure the visit of the UN inquiry team next week.
"I have contacted the provincial police chief and the regional
military commander and asked them to provide a security guarantee
for the (UN) delegation, because if anything unwarranted happened
to them, it will only make the Indonesian nation look bad,"
Susilo said after a meeting with Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri.
He was referring to the visit by a delegation from the UN
Security Council to East Timor at the end of this week and to
West Timor and Jakarta next week.
Their visit comes in the wake of a UN Security Council
resolution in September that called for the disarmament and
disbandment of East Timorese militias in West Timor following the
murder of three UN relief workers there.
"The UN Security Council delegation will be in Atambua on
November 13-14 and on November 16-17, they will be in Jakarta,"
Susilo said.
"The government accepts the visit of the delegation and
understands the arrival as not only part of the resolution but
also as a reaction to the response of the government of
Indonesia," Susilo said.
Jakarta initially opposed the UN delegation visit, while
Susilo said in September that the government "should be given a
chance to do what we have to do".
But Jakarta relented just before an October meeting of the
Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) in Tokyo, amid concern that
its failure to comply with the resolution could curb the inflow
of much-needed foreign assistance.
Susilo said the government understood the delegation, which
will include representatives from Argentina, Malaysia, Tunisia,
Ukraine and Britain, "wishes to settle the problems in the most
just and wisest manner possible."
"The Indonesian government is ready to cooperate with the
United Nations and with the UN Transitional Administration in
East Timor (UNTAET)," he added.
The murder of the UN workers sparked an international outcry
and resulted in the hurried exodus of around 400 foreign aid
personnel who were working with about 130,000 East Timorese
refugees remaining in West Timor.
Some 250,000 people fled to West Timor after the people in the
former Indonesian province voted for independence in August 1999.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a report
just released that recovery in post-referendum East Timor was on
track "thanks to rapid and generous donor response".
"With these resources, the humanitarian community was able to
provide the necessary assistance at an early enough stage to
prevent the deterioration of the physical condition of the
beneficiary population," Annan said in his report to the General
Assembly.
He predicted that the engagement of the international
community in East Timor will be required "for the foreseeable
future in all sectors".(44/byg)