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.