East Timor: Annan invites world leaders to independence ceremony in May

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited the leaders of all 189 UN Member States – and the Holy See and Switzerland – to attend the 20 May ceremony marking the independence of East Timor, a UN spokesperson said today in New York.

Meanwhile, East Timor Foreign Minister José Ramos-Horta left Dili for New York today to attend a Security Council meeting on the future of UN involvement in the new nation.

When the Council meets on 30 January to discuss the current situation in East Timor, it will hear from Mr. Ramos-Horta and Sergio Vieira de Mello, the head of the UN Transitional Administration in the territory (UNTAET). They will request an extension of UNTAET’s mandate to 20 May and present plans for the transition to independence and the launch of UN’s successor mission in East Timor.

According to UNTAET, while in New York, Mr. Ramos-Horta is also expected to attend the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting and deliver a speech on East Timor at a gala event hosted by the Ford Foundation.