FIVE KILLED, UP TO 40 WOUNDED IN EXPLOSIONS

Five civilians were killed and up to 40 wounded yesterday when hand grenades were thrown among a group of Timorese attending a market on the border between East and West Timor, seven kilometers south east of Balibo, in East Timor. No Peacekeeping Force troops were involved in the incident. The motives behind the attack remain unclear and no arrests have been made at this stage. A large number of witnesses has been identified and investigation by the Indonesian Armed Forces, United Nations Civilian Police and the Peacekeeping Force into the incident is on-going. Wounded persons are being treated at military and civilian medical facilities in Balibo in East Timor and Atambua in West Timor. The Indonesian military and the Peacekeeping Force deployed troops to the area after the incident, which occurred at approximately 9.30 a.m. A meeting was held today between Indonesian and Peacekeeping Force commanders to discuss the incident. The Peacekeeping Force conducts regular meetings with Indonesian military commanders to ensure that misunderstandings are avoided and that stability is maintained at the border.

FOURTH TIMOR SEA TALKS OVER

The fourth formal round of talks on Timor Sea between UNTAET/East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA) and the Australian Government ended today after two days of negotiations in Dili, East Timor. “Great progress was made and a great number of issues were resolved,” said Cabinet Member for Political Affairs and Timor Sea Peter Galbraith after the talks. Mr. Galbraith and Cabinet Member for Economic Affairs Mari Alkatiti are the lead negotiators for UNTAET/ETTA. The Australian delegation was led by David Ritchie, First Assistant Secretary of International Organizations and Legal Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. A future treaty governing the resources of the Timor Sea is expected to be signed by independence day. Another round of talks will take place very soon in Australia.

PARTIDO NACIONALISTA TIMORENSE
APPLIES FOR REGISTRATION

The party Partido Nacionalista Timorense (PNT) submitted an application for registration to the Independent Electoral Commission today, 30 May in order to present candidates to the elections for the Constituent Assembly. This is the tenth party to submit an application. All party registration applications are available for public inspection at the Independent Electoral Commission headquarters in Dili for two weeks after having been submitted. Any person eligible to vote who has documents to support their claim may file an objection to an application. The objection can be based only on the premise that the items in the application are deficient or inaccurate, and must be supported by documentary evidence.

NATIONAL COUNCIL APPROVES REGULATION
ON CURRENCY STOCK

The National Council today approved a Regulation on Supplementary Appropriation, proposing a US$5 million capital infusion for the Central Payments Office to finance a stock of currency. The Central Payments Office sought this capital infusion as part of its budget submission for 2001-2002. The base stock of US dollars will satisfy two primary objectives. The dollars represent a transformation of the resources from bank balances into currency. Secondly, the base stock will be a source from witch currency will be disbursed against bank transfers to make payments for civil servants, small local contractors and to provide currency denominations required by traders and businesses to facilitate the completion of transactions in US dollars. Seventeen Council members voted in favor of the regulation and four against.