Timor-Leste will require financial support over long-term - UN official

Timor-Leste has been stable and largely peaceful since the Government took over responsibility for security from the United Nations mission there, but the youngest UN Member State will need international support in the period ahead, a senior UN official told the Security Council today.

Introducing Secretary-General Kofi Annan's latest report on the UN Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET), Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hédi Annabi said four instances of fighting between armed groups in the last 10 days had underscored the need for a legal framework to regulate their activities.

Similarly, Mr. Annabi said demonstrations in mid-July raised concern about the situation of local veterans, spurring efforts to formulate a policy on their situation.

The report says the veterans' groups "made political demands related to the composition of the national police and the resignation of certain Government ministers." During protests on 19 July some 120 people assembled in front of the Government building in Dili. The demonstration continued until it was dispersed the following day by police officers using tear gas.

Commenting on the democratic process, the peacekeeping official said some 400,000 voters have been registered for the election of village chiefs and village-level political bodies, but the appointment of a Povedor, or senior official, in charge of Human Rights and Justice was being delayed because none of the three candidates had obtained a parliamentary majority. New nominations are being invited.

In response to a question about the Indonesian Appeals Court's decision to overturn convictions of Indonesian officials for serious crimes during anti-independence violence in Timor-Leste in 1999, Mr. Annabi said he had asked the High Commissioner for Human Rights to probe the legal processes for dealing with serious crimes in both countries. That report is due by early October.

During the Council's discussion of the report, Timor-Leste Ambassador Jose Luis Guteres said the July demonstration showed that the local police needed more training and he appealed for more help from the international community.

On the question of a land border between his country and Indonesia's West Timor, efforts were being made to conclude an agreement in the coming months, while his country and Australia were scheduled to begin negotiations on delimiting a maritime border in September.

The maritime border discussion concerns oil and gas fields in the Timor Sea.