SECOND TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT TO BE SWORN-IN THURSDAY

The new all-East Timorese Council of Ministers of the Second Transitional Government, which will replace the current Transitional Cabinet, will be sworn-in on Thursday, 20 September.

A final agreement, still to be announced, was reached today on the structure and composition of the executive body.

CONSTITUTIONAL REPORTS HANDED OVER TO ASSEMBLY

Transitional Administrator Sergio Vieira de Mello today handed over the Constitutional Commission reports to the new Constituent Assembly.

The reports from each of East Timor's districts contain input from some 38,000 East Timorese on what they would like to be considered by the Constituent Assembly when drafting a Constitution.

"The electorate has placed their trust in you, and the expectation of your people is high," Vieira de Mello said as he handed over the documents. "They will no doubt be watching you closely to see how carefully you listen to, and reflect, their views in framing your nation's Constitution."

"I have every faith that they selected their representatives well and that you will repay them for the faith they have placed in you," the Transitional Administrator added.

The Constituent Assembly today also elected two Deputy Speakers. Francisco Xavier do Amaral from Associação Social-Democrata Timorense (ASDT) and Arlindo Marçal from Partido Democrata Cristão (PDC) were elected with massive support from two-thirds of the Assembly.

In its first formal session yesterday, Fretilin President Franscico Guterres, also known as Lu-Olo, was elected Speaker of the 88-member Constituent Assembly with an overwhelming majority.

SRSG ATTENDS ECUMENICAL SERVICE FOR US VICTIMS

SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello today attended an Ecumenical Service in Dili Cathedral to commemorate the victims of last week's terrorist attacks in the United States.

Protestant Pastor Maria Fátima Gomes and the representative from the Muslim community Djafar Alkatiri will join the Bishop of Dili Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo in performing the service.

The service is an initiative of Bishop Belo, Cabinet Member for Foreign Affairs José Ramos-Horta, independence leader Xanana Gusmão and the SRSG.

TRUTH COMMISSION MEETS PRO-AUTONOMY LEADERS

Members of the Steering Committee for the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation held a two-day meeting with 20 pro-autonomy leaders in Denpasar, Indonesia, over the past weekend.

The talks focused on the regulation that created the Commission, which was passed by the now defunct National Council on 13 July, and on the composition of the commission's selection panel.

The talks were attended by UNTAET Human Rights Unit official Pat Walsh, who returned to East Timor today.

DEPUTY SRSG GOES TO GENEVA AND UNITED STATES

Deputy SRSG Dennis McNamara will travel to Geneva on Friday to meet Executive Directors of several United Nations agencies between 25 and 26 September and will then proceed to Washington D.C. and New York for a series of meetings with the United States Government in early October.

In Geneva, McNamara will meet with UN colleagues to discuss future UN Agency support for the independent East Timorese Government. The agenda for the visit to the United States is currently being finalized.

THOUSANDS COMMEMORATE MASSACRE IN VIQUEQUE DISTRICT

More than 3,000 people in Viqueque district have turned out on Sunday and Monday to commemorate a 1983 massacre in which 200 civilians were killed allegedly by the Indonesian military in Kraras village.

UNTAET Chief of Staff N. Parameswaran, representing SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, attended a mass yesterday led by Bishop of Baucau Basílio do Nascimento. East Timor Defence Force Brigadier General Taur Matan Ruak attended a similar mass on Sunday.

The Portuguese Government's Commissioner for Transition Assistance Victor Melícias, who also attended Sunday's mass, said his government would finance a memorial honoring the massacre victims.

The two-day event was organized by families of the victims and the survivors in conjunction with the Viqueque District Administration.

INDEPENDENCE COMMITTEE TO MEET

Cabinet Member for Foreign Affairs José Ramos-Horta today held a second meeting to discuss the staging of a wide range of celebrations marking East Timor's upcoming independence.

The meeting was attended by all 13 district administrators, representatives of the 16 registered parties, and sports, youth and cultural officials.

SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello appointed Ramos-Horta to chair the Preparatory Commission on Independence Ceremonies on 4 September. The committee's first meeting was held four days later.

EAST TIMORESE STUDENTS TO LEAVE FOR PORTUGAL

Two hundred and eighty students will be departing East Timor on Saturday to begin studies at universities and technical institutes throughout Portugal.

The students will be departing from Baucau airport on a chartered plane that is scheduled to arrive in East Timor on Friday carrying 150 Portuguese schoolteachers who will work in East Timor over the upcoming school year.

The Portuguese mission in Dili says the task to bring East Timorese students to Portugal is the biggest operation of its kind currently underway. Forty-three additional East Timorese students will also be traveling to Portugal next month.