UNAMET hails Horta's planned visit to E. Timor
UNAMET hails Horta's planned visit to E. Timor
DILI, East Timor (JP): The UN Assistance Mission in East Timor
(UNAMET) on Friday welcomed the planned visit of proindependence
figure and 1996 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta here
next month for campaigning for the Aug. 8 ballot.
UNAMET spokesman David Wimhurst said that all prointegration
and proindependence leaders, including Ramos-Horta, have the
right to campaign for support ahead of the direct vote.
The campaign period will start on July 20, Wimhurst told
reporters at UNAMET headquarters on Jl. De Balide, West Dili.
UNAMET, he said, would cooperate with local police to protect
all leaders on both sides to ensure security during the campaign
period.
"We hope we could cooperate with the police in carrying out
their duties. By doing so, local residents would believe that the
police are neutral," he said.
Antara reported on Thursday from Canberra that Horta plans to
visit Dili early next month prior to the vote.
Following a meeting with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer, Ramos-Horta said he would meet UNAMET chief Ian Martin in
Dili upon his arrival to offer his support in making the direct
vote a success.
In his meeting with Downer, Ramos-Horta stressed the
importance of the ballot and called on Australia to help ensure
it would be carried through.
"If the ballot fails, Indonesia will bear big costs," he said.
Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Minister
of Information Muhammad Yunus have previously said the government
does not object to Ramos-Horta visiting Indonesia to hold
reconciliation talks.
Downer, meanwhile, did not comment on Ramos-Horta's plan to
visit East Timor.
He only said he would meet with officials of the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund regarding the East Timor
issue, and will attend an Australia-New Zealand bilateral meeting
to discuss with his New Zealand counterpart, Don McKinnon, the
developments in East Timor.
State-run television station TVRI reported on Thursday night
that during his visit Horta would try to unite supporters of
independence and integration in East Timor.
According to Wimhurst, Ian Martin has visited places to be
used as registration centers for people to vote in the ballot.
During his visits to Baucau, Ermera, Maliana and Suai areas,
Martin also met with local authorities, police chiefs and
military commanders to discuss the latest security developments.
Martin said that secure and free conditions necessary for
holding the ballot had not yet been established in those areas.
UNAMET volunteers in charge of registration for the ballot are
scheduled to arrive in Darwin, northern Australia, on June 15 and
June 16.
They will be trained in Darwin before being deployed in East
Timor.
Some police officers with the United Nations mission are
expected to arrive in Darwin on Friday.
Separately, chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing
East Timor Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri said on Friday that the
Indonesian Military (TNI) would remain neutral.
"We call on both disputing parties to take part in the ballot
process peacefully," Adam said.
"We guarantee that Falintil (a pro-independence group) will be
able to take part in the ballot. We also call for both parties to
lay down their arms," he said. (33/jun/bsr)