E. Timor to open representative offices in 4 countries

DILI, Sept. 19, Kyodo - East Timor will open representative offices in four countries, including Australia and Indonesia, in the near future, which will become embassies after it gains full independence next year, a local newspaper said Wednesday.

Suara Timor Lorosae (The Voice of East Timor) newspaper quoted Jose Ramos-Horta, cabinet minister for foreign affairs in the East Timor Transitional Administration, as saying the offices will be opened in Brussels, Canberra, Jakarta and Washington.

Ramos-Horta said the Jakarta office will be the first in view of the importance of relations with Indonesia.

''After we gain total independence, the level of the representative offices will be increased to be embassies as soon as possible so our diplomats can work appropriately as permanent representatives of an independent country,'' he told the newspaper.

According to Ramos-Horta, the East Timor Transitional Administration has already sent three diplomats -- Juvencio Martins, Joao Camara and Jorge Trindade -- to Jakarta as its permanent representatives ahead of the opening of the office there.

He said the three have started working at the office of the U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in Jakarta.

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