Subject: RT: Special Timor council to be set up
after vote
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 1999 10:15:27 -0400
From: "John M. Miller" <fbp@igc.apc.org>Received from Joyo Indonesian
News:
Special Timor council to be set up after vote
JAKARTA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The United Nations has endorsed the setting up of a special
council to oversee the disputed region of East Timor after it holds an August 30 ballot on
independence, a top U.N. official said on Friday.
There are widespread fears that the post-ballot period could be violent and that
pro-Jakarta forces may reject a vote for independence, which is the widely expected
result.
The council is expected to come into effect the day after the ballot.
The plan had been agreed by pro-Jakarta and pro-independence leaders who met earlier
this week under a U.N.-organised talks in Jakarta, Jamsheed Marker told a news conference.
``They have come out with an understanding which included the formation of an East
Timorese consultative body aimed at facilitating East Timorese cooperation and
reconciliation in the aftermath of the popular consultation,'' Marker said.
``This body will be made up of 25 representatives,'' Marker added.
Pro-independence Falintil guerrillas have said they will not accept a vote for special
autonomy within Indonesia, as they do not believe such a result is possible in a free
ballot.
Details remain unclear but Portugal's special envoy to Indonesia told reporters that
the committee would consist of 10 officials each from pro-Jakarta and pro-independence
groups.
``Another five come from a neutral body, such as the church,'' Ana Gomes said, adding
that U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan would endorse the officials' appointments.
She said the committee would come into effect on August 31, a day after the ballot.
Marker was in Jakarta to attend a senior officials meeting between Indonesia, Portugal
and the U.N. aimed at discussing the situation in East Timor after the historic ballot.
Marker described the meeting as both ``positive and constructive'' and said that they
had very productive discussions on issues related to the situation after the ballot.
Indonesia invaded East Timor, for centuries a colony of Portugal, in 1975 and annexed
it in the following year in a move never recognised by the U.N.
The U.N still regards Lisbon as East Timor's administering power.
The next senior officials' meeting is scheduled to be held on August 26 in Lisbon.
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