Dili, E Timor – The visiting UN Secretary General's Envoy on East Timor, Jamsheed Marker, said here Saturday he was satisfied with the explanations by Local Military Commander Col. Mahidin Simbolon on the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces in East Timor.

East Timor District Military Chief Capt Triyogo Budi Prasetyo quoted the UN envoy as saying that the realities he had seen in East Timor proved to be quite different from the things he had heard in issues involving East Timor. Marker made the statement when he met with Simbolon here Saturday.

During the meeting Simbolon who was accompanied by other military officers of the region explained in detail the role of the Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) in East Timor province.

"ABRI is carrying out territorial operations to help lift the standards of living of the local people," Simbolon told the UN envoy.

The operations were based on a sense of caring love and aimed at improving the welfare of East Timorese, he added.

"They have helped accelerate the pace of development in East Timor and protected the fruits of that development from ill-intending elements," he said.

Simbolon said the operations were carried out by the ABRI apparatuses in cooperation with the local people.

Besides, the regional military commander also explained the development of education which had succeeded in raising the educational level of the locals and the number of schools with adequate facilities.

Simbolon also briefed Marker on physical and non- -physical infrastructure development such as roads and bridges to support the efforts to increase the living standards of the locals. Marker said he understood that there had been progresses in the implementation of development in East Timor.

Many development achievements could already be felt in East Timor, he said.

He expressed the hope that problems being faced by East Timorese would be solved soon and justly so that they could enjoy peace.

On Sunday, Marker would fly in a helicopter together with his party to have a bird's eye view of the results of physical development in East Timor, particularly those in Mantuto, Aileu,Liquisa and Ermera districts.

The UN envoy is visiting East Timor to witness development in an area which was a Portuguese colony for 450 years and integrated into Indonesia in 1976.

The results of his observations would be used as inputs by UN Secretary General Kofie Annan in speeding up a just and comprehensive solution to the East Timor issue.

[This and the following items have been included in order to show how the government news service (Antara) describes a "visit" in which it is believed 7 people were shot dead, seven others seriously wounded and some 38 others injured - James Balowski]