UN on track to finish East Timor mission
UN on track to finish East Timor mission
Edith M. Lederer, Associated Press, United Nations
The United Nations is on track to wrap up its peacekeeping
mission in East Timor in mid-2004 following the country's
successful transition from UN administration to independence, the
Security Council said on Tuesday.
Nearly three months after the former Indonesian territory
became the world's newest nation, the council said East Timor has
taken steps to assume responsibility for its own security and
establish itself in the international community.
"The East Timor Defense Force is taking over operational
responsibilities from UN peacekeepers as planned, and East
Timor's civilian police units are replacing United Nations
civilian police units in a timely fashion," the council said in a
statement.
The council issued the statement after a briefing from
Assistant Secretary-General Hedi Annabi on developments since
East Timor's independence on May 20 after centuries of Portuguese
rule and 24 years of often brutal occupation by Indonesia.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, the current council president
who read the statement, said members got "good news" from Annabi
on the UN mission's work "and the mission is due to be completed
in mid-2004."
The United Nations took over administration of the tiny
Southeast Asian territory after its people voted overwhelmingly
for independence from Indonesia in a UN-sponsored referendum on
Aug. 30, 1999. The ballot touched off a rampage by Indonesian
military and pro-Jakarta militiamen who killed hundreds of people
and destroyed much of the territory.
The fighting was stopped when international peacekeepers
arrived a month later, and the United Nations later took over the
peacekeeping operation.
In May, the Security Council approved a UN mission of 5,000 UN
troops, 1,250 international police, and 100 civilians to help the
fledgling nation build a democratic government and maintain
security.
The resolution authorizing the scaled-down mission envisioned
that over a period of two years, the United Nations would fully
hand over "all operational responsibilities to the East Timorese
authorities."