East Timor: slain UN aid workers honoured at memorial service
13 September -- More than 500 people attended a memorial service today in Dili, East Timor, to honour the three United Nations relief workers who had been killed last week in Atambua, Indonesia.
The service, held at the Dili Cathedral, attracted Timorese citizens as well as international and local UN staff.
In his eulogy, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the head of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), said that it was "our obligation to keep alive the spirit" for which the staff members from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) lost their lives.
"That means we are obliged to keep on living, to keep believing in the fact that most human beings are good and that it is within our power to make a difference," Mr. Vieira de Mello said.
In a related development, the UNTAET chief is expected to reiterate his outrage at last week's murders at a meeting tomorrow with General Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and Security Affairs.
At the meeting, which will take place in Denpasar, Indonesia, Mr. Vieira de Mello will emphasize the need for immediate action - the disarmament of the militias and the prosecution of those responsible for the killings, UNTAET said. The President of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT), Xanana Gusmão, will also take part in the meeting.
