United Nations – The Security Council decided Wednesday that the UN-administered territory of East Timor should become independent on May 20 next year.

In a statement, the council endorsed the date recommended two weeks ago by the constituent assembly elected in East Timor on August 30. East Timor will become independent on the 28th anniversary of the founding of its first political party, the Timorese Social Democratic Association, which gave birth to Fretilin, the resistance movement against Indonesian rule.

Mari Alkatiri, secretary general of Fretilin – the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor – and chief minister in the transitional government, was in the chamber to hear the council's statement. The statement was read by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen, who chaired the final session of the council held during Ireland's council presidency in October.

Fretilin won 55 of the 88 constituent assembly seats in elections held on the second anniversary of a UN-organised referendum which produced a four-to-one vote for independence from Indonesia. During the assembly debate Alkatiri argued that setting a date for independence would reassure international donors who the United Nations is asking to finance the creation of state institutions in East Timor.

On Wednesday, Alkatiri urged the council to keep part of the civilian staff of the compulsorily funded UN peacekeeping mission in place after independence. "We have assessed the experience of other countries in similar positions that have tried to tap bilateral and multilateral sources to fund critical government functions," he said. "They have not been successful, because these are not the traditional areas that donors are attracted to."