Geneva – The UN Development Programme mistakenly included East Timor in a item on Indonesia in a 1997 report, a spokeswoman said here Friday, stressing that the UN has never recognized the annexation of the former Portuguese colony.

The UNDP in its 1997 human development report published this week said in a section on regional disparities within countries that East Timor was one of the poorest regions of Indonesia with a poverty rate above 40 percent.

"East Timor should not have been included as part of Indonesia. The UNDP apologizes for this mistake," which is being corrected, spokeswoman Therese Gastaut said.

The UN has been hosting talks between Lisbon and Jakarta to try to find a solution to the East Timor issue.