Timor-Leste International and Local Media Monitoring May 18, 2004

Timor Post

End of mission for Sharma

The Special Representative of the Secretary General of the UN, Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma, has bid farewell to Timor-Leste during a ceremony where members of the Government and diplomatic corps in Timor-Leste were present. The Prime Minister, Dr Mari Alkatiri, said that Ambassador Kamalesh Sharma has contributed a lot to Timor-Leste, and thanked him on behalf of the people of Timor-Leste.

Donors need to balance the budget, says Tilman

A Member of the National Parliament from Commission C, Manuel Tilman, said that the donors need to give better balance to the financial support for Timor-Leste, evenly spread otherwise the Government will take all the money. He said that the donors cannot use the same format for the last three years.

War crimes solution must involve all parties, says FM Ramos Horta

East Timor's authorities are seeking a solution to unresolved war crimes committed in the territory in 1999 that is "acceptable to all", Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta has said. "We will explore some ideas based on our interest and concern in concluding the judicial process without weakening the strong ties between Timor and Indonesia," said Ramos Horta.

Detained Australian freed to await subversion trial An Australian citizen accused of subversion by East Timor?s authorities was released from custody at the weekend and is awaiting trial, Dili?s interior minister has said. Rogerio Tiago Lobato said that Julian King, who says he is a journalist, was "detained for 72 hours" for questioning on alleged subversive activities. "His passport has been confiscated and he will be expelled from Timor. We don't want him here," Lobato added.

STL

Doubts on warrant lift Wiranto's campaign

East Timor's top prosecutor has said there "might be some defects" in an indictment against former and serving Indonesian officers accused of human rights abuses in a move that appears certain to sink any further attempts to prosecute them. The prosecutor general of East Timor, Longuinhos Monteiro, wrote to the judge at the Special Panel for Serious Crimes in the Dili District Court. Dr Monteiro requested the court to allow him to review the 15,000-page indictment filed with the court by his office on February 24 last year. He sent a letter just hours after an American judge on the Special Panel issued an arrest warrant for the former Indonesian armed forces commander, Wiranto. His attempt to withdraw the indictment on the same day as a warrant was finally issued against Wiranto has stunned human rights observers. The move has fuelled speculation that Wiranto has struck a deal with the East Timorese Government to stall or drop attempts to prosecute him.

Jose Filipe External Affairs World Bank, Dili Office

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