UN completes count of E. Timor's people

UN completes count of E. Timor's people

DILI, East Timor (AP): UN officials said on Monday they had
completed a count of East Timor's population as part of
preparations for a historic Aug. 30 election, which they say will
be held on schedule.

UN administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello said 737,811 East
Timor residents had been registered. The count will provide data
for the compilation of an electoral roll of East Timorese voters
over the age of 17.

They will elect an 88-member assembly to draft a constitution
that will take it to full independence next year.

De Mello estimated that around 380,000 people will be eligible
to vote. The final number of voters will be confirmed after a 10-
day challenge period to the count later this month, he said.

The population registration will also provide valuable
economic and social data, he said.

"It has provided all the inhabitants of this country with an
identity, which they had, in many instances, lost," de Mello
said.

Meanwhile, UN deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette
arrived on Monday for a four-day visit to assess election
preparations.

"I am very pleased to see the preparations are going to
schedule. I am assured that over the coming weeks there will be
active debate because I think it is important these elections
engage the population," said Frechette.

The United Nations has been administering East Timor since
1999 after its people voted to end Indonesian rule of their
homeland.

That ballot triggered a wave of violence by anti-independence
militiamen that resulted in hundreds of deaths, the displacement
of tens of thousands of people and widespread devastation.