Scaled-down UN mission in East Timor

Scaled-down UN mission in East Timor

EAST TIMOR: A UN assessment team expects to recommend a scaled- down UN mission remain in East Timor when its current mandate expires in May, the head of the team said on Thursday.

"I think what we're likely to recommend is a smaller, more compact (mission) and with no executive authority," Julian Harston, Asia-Middle East director of the United Nations' Department of Peacekeeping Operations, said in an interview with AFP.

Harston said it was unclear if a follow-up mission would include a military presence.

He is scheduled to return to New York on Friday to deliver a report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is to make recommendations to the Security Council next month.

The two-year mandate of the United Nations Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) runs out on May 20.

Harston, who arrived in East Timor on Monday, led a seven- person team that met the impoverished nation's President Xanana Gusmao, Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, legislators, cabinet ministers and members of local organizations. -- AFP