UN chief firmly behind solving East Timor issue

UN chief firmly behind solving East Timor issue

LISBON (AFP): UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is determined to make progress in resolving the problem of East Timor, his special envoy Jamsheed Marker said here after three days of talks with Portuguese officials.

Marker is the first UN official to be appointed specifically to handle the East Timor question since the Portuguese colony became part of Indonesia more than 20 years ago.

On leaving Lisbon, Marker said he had encountered "understanding and cooperation from the Portuguese authorities, who demonstrated their sincere concern in the face of the current situation in East Timor."

The Pakistani diplomat said that he now had a clear idea of the position of the Lisbon government and public opinion in Portugal, which is still considered the administrative power in East Timor by the United Nations.

Marker is to go to Jakarta and Dili, the capital of East Timor, at the end of this month, before submitting a report on his mission to Annan.

"We will then decide on what the United Nations can do, and we will try to reconcile the points of view of all the parties concerned to reach an equitable solution to this problem," he said.

During his stay here Marker had meetings with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, Prime Minister Antonio Guterres, Foreign Minister Jaime Gama and the representative of the East Timor independence movement in Lisbon, Roque Rodrigues.