Timor-Leste will need continued help after UN departs, Annan says

Timor-Leste will need continued international assistance after the United Nations pulls out next year, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a new report released today.

Although "the country has made remarkable progress…international assistance will continue to be indispensable," Mr. Annan says in the report to the Security Council on the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET).

Timor-Leste gained independence in May 2002; the mandate for UNMISET expires in May of 2004.

Mr. Annan specified that the newly independent country was liable to need "further guidance and advice in the areas of civil administration, justice and policing as well as in such areas as human rights training."

"It is likely the new country's capacity to ensure security in the border areas will not have reached an optimal level, and that the serious crimes process will not be complete," he said.

"In this context, it is timely that the international community take stock of what has been achieved, renew its determination to advance as far as possible during the remaining months of UNMISET's mandate and begin considering the best means through which the country's needs can be met after its withdrawal."