United Nations – Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for the withdrawal of almost all UN peacekeepers in East Timor and a shift in the UN's focus to helping the newly independent country consolidate its political institutions.
In a report to the Security Council on Wednesday, Annan proposed a one-year extension of the UN mission. Such extensions are routine for UN missions and peacekeeping operations. The council is expected to debate the report Friday.
The report follows a visit last month by a UN team to Asia's poorest country, which gained independence in 2002 following four centuries of Portuguese rule and 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation.
Annan said that while East Timor has made considerable progress in building the structures of a nation, such as a judicial system and police force, it still needs help as the current UN mandate prepares to run out on May 20.
"I am convinced that a comparatively modest additional effort can make a crucial difference in broadening the scope and increasing the sustainability of the remarkable achievements that have already been made," Annan wrote in the report.
When the people of East Timor voted for independence in 1999, the Indonesian military and its proxy militias responded by laying waste to the former province, killing 1,500 Timorese and forcing 300,000 from their homes.
The United Nations administered the territory for 2 1/2 years, then handed it to the Timorese on May 20, 2002 – after establishing a new administration, judiciary, police force and army, in addition to overseeing the first democratic elections.
About 3,000 international peacekeepers are now stationed in East Timor to support its fledgling army, along with about 500 UN police officers. Another 1,000 UN staffers provide technical assistance for government departments, including in banking, civil aviation and public works.
Annan said in the report he wants to cut that down to 310 military personnel – including an infantry company and air support – 58 civilian advisers, 157 police advisers and 42 military liaison officers.
Under the modified mandate designed to cover a "consolidation phase", the UN mission would provide assistance to the country's justice system and core administrative structures, contribute to development of the national police and help maintain security, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
East Timor Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has said the United Nations should stay in the country until 2006.oval from either the central government or regional administrations.
The bill was initiated under pressure by the World Bank through its US$300 million Water Sector Adjustment Loan commitment in 1999. It is also said to protect the private sector as it shifts much of the risk to the government.
Dozens of drinking water companies – including several foreign-owned firms – have occupied a number of springs to produce bottled water in the country. The drinking water business takes 4.1 billion cubic meters of water in 2001.
Critics have warned that the government would not be able to control the growth of commercialization in the water sector as the law authorizes either the central government or regional administrations to issue permits to individuals or corporations to commercialize water resources.
"The law keeps on saying that commercialization needs public consultation, but it fails to name who the public is or what agency responsible for that," Nila Ardhiani of the Coalition for People's Access to Water.