Xanana makes UN debut as president
Xanana makes UN debut as president
Gerald Nadler, Associated Press, United Nations
East Timor's president-elect Xanana Gusmao said his homeland
would continue to need U.N. support even after it becomes
independent on May 20.
Xanana, who was elected in April to head the new state,
thanked the UN Security Council on Friday for helping to lead
East Timor to independence after a 24-year occupation by
Indonesia.
The United Nations has been administering the tiny Southeast
Asian territory since its people voted overwhelmingly for
independence in a UN-sponsored referendum on Aug. 30, 1999.
"Support from the international community - including
technical advisers to support key government functions - will be
essential for some time to come," Xanana said.
For Xanana, who was a guerrilla leader against the Indonesians
and spent seven years in a Jakarta jail, the speech was his first
appearance at the United Nations as the president-to-be.
"We will face a real test after the declaration of
independence," he said.
The two major challenges, he said, were to manage the
legislature so that laws are passed to promote economic
development, and to continue East Timor's cooperation with the
United Nations to improve the institutions of a fledgling
democracy.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the new government of
East Timor will face "enormous tasks" after independence on May
20 and urged that the Security Council approve a smaller
successor peace mission of two years to help the fledgling state.
"The international community must ensure that the investment
it has made does not go to waste," Annan said. "It will still
have a crucial role to play in helping the Timorese consolidate
their new (democratic) institutions."
He said the successor mission will help with administration,
setting up courts, training police and providing security.
"That support will be gradually reduced over two years as the
role of the United Nations becomes one of providing normal
development assistance," he said.