In East Timor, Security Council team impressed by
strides towards independence
14 November -- A delegation of the United Nations Security Council concluded today its two-day visit to East Timor, reporting considerable progress in the efforts of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) in overseeing the territory's transition to independence.
Ambassador Martin Andjaba of Namibia told a press conference in Dili this morning that the Council members were "impressed by the remarkable achievements" in the territory. "Of course, there might be problems here and there, but they should not be impediments in the way to independence," he said.
"Our assessment here [...] is that the people of East Timor are ready for independence," he said. "They have suffered a long foreign occupation and domination, and I think the time has come for them to get their independence," Ambassador Andjaba stressed. He added that the UN Mission played a vital role in spearheading important social and political transformations in the territory since last year's post-referendum violence.
The purpose of the Council mission to East Timor was in part to review the implementation of Council resolution 1272, which gives the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) the mandate to prepare the territory for independence.
The Council team then flew to West Timor, Indonesia, where it met with senior Indonesian civilian, military and police officials to discuss Council resolution 1319, in particular the need for disarming and disbanding militia groups and repatriating refugees to East Timor. Ambassador Andjaba said in a statement that the Council had come "as friends of Indonesia" and would work with Jakarta to solve the problems in West Timor.
The delegation then attended a public weapons destruction ceremony organized by the Indonesian authorities who reported that so far they had confiscated from the militia more than 1,300 homemade weapons, as well as 114 standard firearms and 18 grenade launchers. Council delegates also visited a refugee camp housing 7,800 East Timorese and later met with civil society groups dealing with the refugee problem in West Timor.
