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.