UN officials, equipment arrive for East Timor polls
UN officials, equipment arrive for East Timor polls
BAUCAU, East Timor (JP): A United Nations plane carrying 25
tons of communication tools with a team of nine officials, and a
vessel flying the UN flag with 25 vehicles and a heavy load of
helicopter parts on board, arrived safely on Monday in East
Timor.
The UN equipment and the officials will help monitor and
facilitate the Aug. 7 Independence-or-Integration vote for East
Timorese.
Before being taken out from the bodies of the plane and
vessel, the cargo was first examined by local immigration staff
and customs and excise offices, witnessed by local and
international media.
Several UN officials, who arrived in Dili a few days ago, were
on hand to welcome their colleagues and inspect the freight.
The Russian-made transport plane, Ilyushin IL-76 TD, landed at
8:23 a.m. at Baucau Air Force base, some 130 kilometers from
Dili.
Personnel from the Air Force Special Unit and members of the
police Mobile Brigade unit were put on alert in the vicinity of
the base.
After taking a short break, the nine-member team were flown by
an Indonesian Air Force helicopter to Dili.
The container loads of communication devices and tools for
directly monitoring the ballot, bearing the UN logo, were later
transported to the East Timor capital of Dili in 11 trucks.
Unlike the low key arrival of the Russian Ilyushin at Baucau,
the berthing of Arktis Atlantic, a vessel that has the routine
route of Darwin-Bintulu-Singapore and Bonete Bay, at Dili Port at
9:30 a.m. on Monday, was greeted by thousands of East Timorese.
Locals clapped their hands enthusiastically and repeatedly
shouted hurrah to welcome the vessel, although they were not
allowed to approach the cargo.
According to staff at the port, the ship left Darwin at 5:30
a.m. on Saturday.
The cars, mostly long-bodied jeeps such as Toyota
Landcruisers, are to transport UN officials during their work for
a free, transparent and peaceful vote.
Disembarkation of the cargo started at 10 a.m., after a team
of UN officials based in Dili visited the vessel.
Shortly after the announcement of the disembarkation, dozens
of Dili port dock workers began off-loading the freight.
From the port, the vehicles were escorted under heavy police
guard to nearby warehouses.
The Aug. 7 vote, which will be conducted under the high-
profile direct supervision of UN officials, is aimed at allowing
the 800,000 East Timorese to choose between remaining a part of
Indonesia with autonomy provisions or to be an independent
country.
All UN staff to be deployed in East Timor in preparation for
the ballot should be in place by mid-June.
They will comprise 600 international UN staff, including 400
voter registration and polling officials, 15 to 18 political and
civilian advisers, various logistics, communications and
information personnel and other staff.
Last week, a team of 15 from Japan arrived in Dili at the same
time as an Australian team of seven to separately observe the
situation in the territory before the beginning of the UN-
supervised direct ballot. (33/bsr)