UN defers E. Timor debate again
UN defers E. Timor debate again
JAKARTA (JP): The United Nations is set to defer once again
the debate on East Timor at this year's General Assembly, Antara
reported yesterday.
The general committee, which prepares the agenda for this
year's assembly, unanimously agreed Wednesday to an Egyptian call
for a deferment. Greece seconded the proposal, the news agency
said in a dispatch from the United Nations.
The East Timor issue has been on the assembly's agenda since
1976 but its debate has been deferred every year since 1983 in
order to allow the UN secretary general to promote dialog between
Indonesia and Portugal, the two disputing parties.
The Egyptian representative cited the same point in calling
for a deferment, underscoring UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's
Sept. 15 progress report on the East Timor issue.
The issue was listed as the 95th item on this year's agenda.
The committee's decision would be brought to the assembly's
plenary meeting on Sept. 19.
Annan, who assumed his post in January, has appointed
Pakistani diplomat Jamsheed Marker as his special representative
on the East Timor question.
Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers have conducted
several meetings since 1983 to try to resolve the status of the
former Portuguese colony.
Portugal abandoned the territory in 1975 before completing the
decolonization process, leaving in its wake a bloody civil war.
That same year, a group of tribal leaders in East Timor
declared their intention to join Indonesia, and the move was
formalized by the Indonesian House of Representatives the
following year.
The United Nations, however, continues to regard Lisbon as the
territory's administering power.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that Mary Robinson, the new UN
Human Rights Commissioner, said in Geneva that she hoped to meet
with Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas at the general
assembly to discuss the East Timor situation.
Robinson, a former Irish president, vowed to take a balanced
approach with governments under fire for alleged human rights
abuses, but to "stand up to bullies" when necessary. (emb)