A document drawn up by the United Nations Mission in East Timor says that the training of judges and support to courts and Timorese jurists should be undertaken in Indonesian, a policy that the UN mission denied last week.

The paper, "A Strategic Action Plan for the East Timor Judicial System", was written by the No. 2. administrator of UNMISET.

Lusa has seen the document, which suggests that training of judges should be carried out for a three-year period "in a language of which legal officials have a good working knowledge".

The document points to Bahasa Indonesia as the most widely – known by Timorese judges and jurists, adding weight to a Timorese government source's allegations last week that some sections of the UN mission were pressing for recruitment of officials who were "fluent in Indonesian".

However, UNMISET denied Thursday that any such favoritism existed towards Indonesian speakers, adding that the final decision on the matter rested solely with the Dili government. A UNMISET spokesman contacted Monday by Lusa echoed Thursday's denial of any preference towards Indonesian-speakers, saying that the document only contained recommendations and any final decision was the responsibility of Timor's executive.