UN must remain to defend East Timor - Cowen

Welcoming the prospect of East Timor's formal independence in May, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said yesterday the UN had to maintain its involvement, both civil and military, with the island.

"We have encouraged a nation to rise to its feet," he told a special session of the UN Security Council, "but we must walk a bit longer with its people before returning home."

He pledged that Ireland would continue its commitment of 50 soldiers to the UNTAET mission.

The Minister was performing Ireland's final act as President of the Security Council in summing up a public debate on an agreed report from the Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, urging the Council to extend the UN mandate on a reduced basis. Irish officials were working to iron out last-minute difficulties in funding the operation, notably with the US.

Mr Cowen warmly welcomed the Timorese delegation, anticipating "the day when, instead of being visitors in the Security Council, East Timor will take its rightful place in the General Assembly of this world organisation". The UN, in the person of the Secretary General's personal representative, Mr Sergio Vieira de Mello, has been administering the territory since 1999 after residents voted overwhelmingly to break from Indonesia, which invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975.

The President of the East Timor Constituent Assembly, which was elected in August, Mr Francisco Guterres, signed a resolution on Monday asking the UN to hand over sovereignty to elected Timorese government institutions on May 20th, 2002.

Since late September an all-Timorese transitional government, under Mr de Mello, has assumed executive responsibility from UN officials. The new administration faces considerable difficulties bridging the country's $20 million budget deficit this year, the report warns, stressing the need for continuing donor support.

Indonesian prosecutors yesterday questioned the former military chief Gen Wiranto and parliament speaker Mr Akbar Tandjung over a 54.6 billion rupiah ($5.3 million) scandal involving the Bulog state food agency in mid-1999. Gen Wiranto told reporters afterwards the money from Bulog had been used by the military for security in East Timor for the 1999 independence vote there. He denied the money went to pro-Jakarta East Timorese militia who waged a campaign of terror in the run-up to the vote and killed about 2,000 people.

Bulog money was aimed at helping Indonesians in need of basic necessities during the Asian financial crisis.

--(Reuters)