UN Council hails Timor independence, UN membership
UN Council hails Timor independence, UN membership
Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, United Nations
Hours after independence the tiny Pacific nation of East Timor applied to become the 190th member of the United Nations, an action greeted warmly on Monday by the UN Security Council.
Some 34 speakers congratulated East Timor, the world's newest nation, born out of centuries of colonization by Portugal, 24 years of occupation by Indonesia and almost three years of United Nations administration.
The meeting to commemorate independence was led by Singapore's Foreign Minister Shanmugam Jayakumar, whose Southeast Asian country holds this month's council presidency.
"The Security Council looks forward to the day in the near future when East Timor will join us as a member of the United Nations and to working closely with its representatives," the 15- member body said in a statement read by Jayakumar.
After independence celebrations early on Monday, the new government and parliament immediately swore in a cabinet, signed an oil treaty with Australia and handed its application for UN membership to Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Most speakers echoed the words of Louise Frechette, the UN deputy secretary-general, who said the world was celebrating the courage and determination of the East Timorese.
But she said it came after a "long and painful road," full of sacrifices. "It is an occasion to remember those East Timorese who dreamed of this day, but did not live to see it. This is their day too," Frechette said.
Some 200,000 people are estimated dead from famine and fighting during Indonesia's rule and another 1,000 died after an August 1999 poll for independence from Jakarta. Pro-Indonesian militia went on the rampage, looting, killing and burning down buildings.
Australia, with Indonesia's consent, sent in troops within a month to put down the militia until the United Nations could organize a force in the wounded and impoverished territory.
Indonesia's deputy UN ambassador, Mochamad Slamet Hidayat, complimented President Xanana Gusmao, the former resistance fighter and political prisoner, as a "visionary statesman" for promoting reconciliation.
Gusmao missed part of the independence ceremonies and instead accompanied Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri to visit graves of Indonesian soldiers killed in East Timor.
The United States swiftly established full diplomatic relations on Monday as former President Bill Clinton raised the American flag at the new U.S. Embassy in East Timor's seaside capital of Dili. An ambassador will be named later.
"The United States remains committed to supporting East Timor," U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte told the council.
He said Washington had committed nearly US$180 million in bilateral assistance to East Timor's 800,000 people as well as $300 million for UN peacekeepers, 5,000 of whom will stay for another two years. He figured out that "per capita" East Timor was the largest recipient of U.S. bilateral aid in the world.
Japan's UN ambassador, Yukio Satoh, said his country was the largest donor in direct assistance to date, with US$120 million for reconstruction, development and humanitarian aid and a pledge of $190 million over the next three years.
Portugal's ambassador, Francisco Seixas da Costa, said his country closed an important chapter in its history in the last territory of what was once called the Portuguese colonial empire. The United Nations had made it possible to give birth to a country, still one of the poorest in the world and in need of help for the future, he said.
And Australia's ambassador John Dauth, noted Monday's signing of the Timor Sea Treaty, which would guarantee substantial oil and gas revenues for the new country.
The reserves, to be exploited by Australia, are expected to bring East Timor about $7 billion over the next 20 years. But the revenue is not to begin until 2005.
In the interim, East Timor has to rely on foreign aid. Some 70 percent of the population is unemployed and 40 percent is illiterate.