The bodies of the three UNHCR staff who were murdered in Atambua last week were flown from Dili to Darwin, Australia, today, 14 September. The bodies have been identified by an UNTAET medical examiner and will be flown to their final destinations sometime later this week.
The body of Samson Aregahegn will be accompanied by family members to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Carlos Caceres will be accompanied to Miami, Florida, by a UNHCR Protection Officer; Pero Simundza’s body will be flown to Split, Croatia, by a UNHCR Logistics Officer who was working with him in the former Yugoslavia and in East Timor.
A brief service was conducted by UNHCR staff at Comoro Airport before the bodies left the country.
SRSG MEETS INDONESIAN AUTHORITIES
SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello and CNRT President Xanana Gusmão traveled to Denpasar, Indonesia, today to meet General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs. The meeting, on the situation in West Timor among other issues, was to start at 8 p.m. local time.
LOANS FOR SMALL BUSINESSES APPROVED
One hundred and fifty business loans for districts outside the capital were approved on 5 September for a total amount of US$1,3 million. The disbursement of the loans begun in Oecussi and Manatuto districts on 11 September and the disbursement for the remaining ten districts is expected be completed by the end of September.
An initial US$4 million small loan program was set up by the World Bank in April under the Small Enterprises Project to help in the economic reconstruction and rehabilitation of small business in East Timor.
Under the project, 20 loans were earlier approved for applicants from Dili district.
The Small Enterprises Project is a program from the World Bank administered Trust Fund for East Timor.
