Joseph Fitchete, Lisbon – Bill Clinton presumably didn't notice any problems during East Timor's independence celebrations last week. After nearly two days' flying time to the Pacific as the Bush administration's representative, Clinton spent only a few hours in Dili, the new capital.

But Secretary-General Kofi Annan might have paid more attention to local complaints that departing United Nations officials took away nearly $10 million worth of computers, generators and other equipment that they had been using. Some administrative offices were stripped bare, say journalists and official guests from Lisbon, who took special interest in the UN handover because Portugal ran East Timor until 1975.

According to Carlos Monjardino, chairman of the Portuguese-Asian philanthropic foundation, Fundacao Oriente (endowed by funds from Macau's casinos), "UN officials said the decision involved sophisticated equipment liable to impose maintenance costs too high for East Timor."

UN officials retorted that $50 million in imported infrastructure remains: It belongs to a reduced UN mission, slated to stay a year. Noting that East Timor expects a bonanza from offshore oil, Monjardino said the UN action felt "mean-spirited."