UN Mission in East Timor opens talks with Australia on marine resources
9 October -- Negotiations began today between East Timor and Australia on the body of water between them, with the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) representing the newly independent Territory.
The talks, which are being held in the East Timorese capital of Dili, concern a future treaty that will govern the resources in the Timor Gap. The UN Mission holds the position that "East Timor is entitled to all revenues north of the mid-point between East Timor and Australia, in accordance with current international law of the sea," according to an UNTAET statement.
Xanana Gusmão, the President of the National Council for East Timorese Resistance (CNRT), was among the high-level officials attending the talks today. The current round of negotiations is expected to last until 12 October.
In another development, over the weekend UNTAET peacekeepers from the New Zealand battalion shot dead an armed militia member about 4.5 kilometres north of Suai, near East Timor's border with West Timor.
None of the UN troops was injured in the exchange of fire, which occurred on Friday. According to UNTAET, the troops acted after receiving reports of three sightings of militia members in the area, which they were working to clear and secure.
