UN expresses regret over death of Indonesian soldier in East Timor border incident

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in East Timor today expressed regret over the death of an Indonesian soldier at the border separating East and West Timor.

In a statement released by the UN peacekeeping force, Lt. Gen. Boonsrang Niumpradit extended his condolences to the Indonesian Commander for the death of First Sgt. Lirman Hadimu, who was killed when UN troops from the New Zealand contingent fired back after being shot at by an armed man dressed in civilian clothes.

The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) has launched an investigation into the incident.

In other news, eligible voters whose names do not appear on the official polling list but who can provide evidence of having registered, will be allowed to vote in East Timor's upcoming elections, UNTAET's Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) announced today.

The change in the polling procedure followed the discovery that some 28,000 people either were left off the list or had their registration data entered incorrectly.

The IEC's Chief Electoral Officer, Carlos Valenzuela, said that the IEC had launched a "mass verification and correction exercise" after determining that, due primarily to computer problems, there were eligible voters whose names did not appear on the list.

"By all standards the results of the exhibition and challenge were a success; 233,450 people checked whether they were included in the voters list," Mr. Valenzuela said.

Roughly half of the more than 28,000 people have been added to the voter list on the basis of claim forms submitted. The IEC said that the final voter roll would have over 400,000 names.