UN POLICE, PKF INVESTIGATE KILLING OF ALLEGED THIEVES

The UN Peacekeeping Force (PKF) in East Timor said today it is assisting in a UN Police investigation related to the killing of two alleged cattle thieves by the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI) in the border region.

A group of alleged cattle thieves were confronted Friday, 29 March, by TNI troops on the Indonesian side of the tactical coordination line that separates East Timor and West Timor. TNI reported it had shot three of the suspects, killing two. The wounded man and another suspect reportedly escaped and fled into East Timor.

UN Police, assisted by New Zealand Peacekeepers, launched an investigation into the incident. Police and peacekeepers are conducting a search operation in the area surrounding Nanu village, where the two surviving suspects were last seen.

The nationality of the two killed has not been confirmed by UN investigators.

CHIEF MINISTER RETURNS FROM OFFICIAL VISIT TO BRITAIN

East Timor Chief Minister Marí Alkatiri returned this weekend from an official visit to Britain that included a meeting with Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short.

The visit, which had been planned for several months, also included a meeting with Ben Bradshaw, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

Topics discussed at the meetings included East Timor’s upcoming Independence Celebrations and British budgetary support to East Timor.

Following these meetings, the Chief Minister met with a leading British international lawyer to discuss various matters, including the Timor Sea. The lawyer has been providing advice to UNTAET and the Second Transitional Government of East Timor during the transition period.