UN extends presence in East Timor

UN extends presence in East Timor

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations announced on Thursday it would stay in East Timor for another year, under a new political mission that would significantly reduce the UN troop presence there.

The Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to send 45 civilian advisers, 75 police advisers and up to 10 human rights officers to the developing island country until May 2006.

The new UN Office in East Timor will replace the UN Mission of Support in East Timor, a peacekeeping mission that has existed since 1999, when 10,000 UN military personnel were deployed to the country after it declared independence from Indonesia. After several phases of scaling down the force, there were just 466 UN troops left in East Timor this year.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message to an international symposium in Dili on Thursday that "considerable progress" had been made toward politically stabilizing East Timor and promoting human rights, but UN support was still needed.

The new office will be charged with helping develop state institutions, police forces and border patrol units. The political mission should eventually give way to "a sustainable development assistance framework", the resolution says. --AFP