World urges calm and respect for Timor vote

World urges calm and respect for Timor vote

SINGAPORE (Agencies): The international community on Saturday welcomed the announcement of the historic ballot, calling on all parties in East Timor to respect the results and refrain from violence.

The United Nations Security Council in New York after being notified of the result of the vote held a brief meeting to issue a statement calling the vote "an accurate reflection of the views of the East Timorese people."

The statement, read by council President Peter van Walsum of the Netherlands, urged the people of East Timor to work together and for Indonesia to take the necessary constitutional steps to implement the result of the ballot.

The council statement condemned the violence that both preceded and followed the Aug. 30 ballot and expressed condolences to the families of several local UN staff and others who were killed.

United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright described the vote, which saw over 79 percent of East Timorese reject Indonesia's wide-ranging autonomy proposal, as a "major step toward the birth of a new nation".

"In making known your strong desire for independence in this election, you have faced dangers and hardships over recent weeks," AFP quoted Albright as saying in a statement addressed to East Timor's people.

"We look to the government and the people of Indonesia to create a secure environment for the next steps in East Timor's orderly transition.

"To do otherwise risks disaster, and will have lasting effects on Indonesia's status in the international community," she warned.

Australia, who many expect will be one of the leading countries likely to assume a strong role in the future of East Timor, indicated on Saturday that it is ready to lead an interim force of peace-keepers.

In Sydney, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer vowed to stand by the people of East Timor.

"We won't let East Timor down," he remarked.

Downer said that although UN peacekeeping forces would take months to assemble, Australia could lead a force made up of troops from a "coalition of the willing".

"That is one of the proposals which we are working on at the moment," he said.

As the closest neighbor of the half-island territory, Australia could be a primary destination for East Timor refugees if trouble escalates.

Both Britain and Portugal, while hailing the results of the ballot, warned Indonesia to ensure that order is maintained in the coming weeks before the territory is formally separated from the republic.

"We will hold the government of Indonesia to its commitment to maintain security and order through the independence process," Reuters quoted British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook as saying in a statement from London.

Portugal, East Timor's former colonial ruler, called on the UN to assume security functions there as soon as possible now that the results of the ballot are known.

"The international community can not ignore the new democratic legitimacy of the people of East Timor," Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres said in Lisbon.

Guterres called on the UN Security Council to "go as far as possible" to assure security in the territory which has been wracked by violence.

"The sooner the United Nations is assuring security in East Timor, the better it will be for the East Timorese people," he added.

Similarly, Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi echoed calls for an end to bloodshed in the territory and urged everyone to accept the results.

"I hope all people concerned will accept the results of the vote," Obuchi said in Tokyo.

"I also hope the Indonesian government will continue to make its utmost efforts to maintain security" in the territory, Jiji Press news agency quoted the premier as saying.

The European Union in a statement on Saturday said the EU warmly welcomed the result of last Monday's referendum but called on the international community to be vigilant.

"The European Union condemns the escalation of violence and is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in East Timor," the Finnish government said in a statement issued on behalf of the 15-nation bloc.

Finland currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

Ominous

New Zealand and Singapore, while welcoming the results, also conveyed their commendations to Indonesia for consenting to hold the vote.

In New Zealand, Foreign Minister Don McKinnon called the vote a "triumph for the East Timorese people", and praised Indonesian President B.J. Habibie for proceeding with the poll.

"It was a courageous act and none of the many problems that have occurred in the implementation of the decision can detract from the boldness of his original determination to give a choice to the East Timorese," McKinnon said.

Singapore on Saturday said the ballot should be respected and called for an end to the violence there.

A Singapore foreign ministry spokesman noted that the results were an important step toward resolving the East Timor question.

"The people of East Timor should be allowed to continue to determine their future in the peaceful manner in which the voting took place on Aug. 30," the spokesman said in the island state while commending both Indonesia and the UN on the peaceful vote and high turnout of the ballot.

The most foreboding comment probably came Indonesia's neighbor the Philippines, which warned that nothing had truly been decided.

"President Habibie has said he will abide by the results of the vote, but we are not sure that he'll still be president in December," said Filipino Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon.

He noted that Indonesian opposition leader Megawati Soekarnoputri, who may become Indonesia's president in November, has expressed disdain for the vote in the past. Megawati has promised to accept the outcome of the referendum, but criticized her rival Habibie for allowing the vote in the first place.

Indonesia's highest institution, the People's Consultative Assembly, which meets in November, will have to agree to annul a 1978 decree which integrated East Timor before the territory is legally separated from the republic.