UN urged to hold Timor ballot

The United Nations should run the scheduled referendum on the fate of East Timor, not merely supervise an Indonesian-run ballot, a coalit...

The United Nations should run the scheduled referendum on the fate of East Timor, not merely supervise an Indonesian-run ballot, a coalition of 26 international support groups has said.

8220;It will be impossible for the UN to conduct a meaningful assessment of East Timorese public opinion if those forces the Indonesian military and police 8212; one party to the conflict 8212; are controlling the situation on the ground,8221; they said.

The call came in a three-page letter by the International Federation for East Timor IFET dated May 3 sent to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.In the ballot, which is a referendum in all but name and which will be held on August 8, the 8,00,000 East Timorese in the former Portuguese colony, and those in exile, are to choose whether to accept the Indonesian offer of wide-ranging autonomy or independence.

Copies of the letter were faxed to international news agencies hours before Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama, were scheduled tosign Indonesia8217;s autonomy offer in New York. Also to be signed are accompanying documents on the conduct of the poll and on the presence of a UN civilian police force before and during the ballot. The groups also urged the UN to insist that the number of Indonesian troops in the former Portuguese colony be cut down to 1,000.

Arguing that the UN would 8220;betray8221; its principles if it was party to a vote carried out in an 8220;atmosphere of terror8221;, the letter called for 8220;disarming and disbanding8221; of pro-Indonesian militia. Armed groups from both sides should be neutralised, it added.

8220;For a week before and after August 8, both ABRI the Indonesian armed forces and FALINTIL the Independence rebels should be confined to specific places, so that voters are not intimidated by either side,8221; it said. 8220;The United Nations must provide sufficient personnel, suitably equipped and with the necessary mandate to ensure this.8221;

Tensions have risen between pro-Indonesian and pro-independence forces since Jakartasaid in January it could let go of the territory it invaded in 1975 soon after Portugal8217;s abrupt departure, and annexed a year later. The annexation was never recognised by the UN, which views Portugal as the colony8217;s administering power.

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The first contingent of civilian police 8212; expected to be drawn from Australia, the United States, Japan, Germany, the Philippines and Great Britain 8212; is due to arrive in East Timor on May 10. The letter8217;s final demand was: 8220;If the East Timorese people reject autonomy on August 8, the United Nations should immediately establish a transitional government in East Timor.8221;