Gardai going to East Timor

Eight gardai leave this weekend for East Timor, where they will act as unarmed United Nations police supervising campaigning for the territory's August 8th referendum on autonomy, which could lead to independence, David Shanks reports. The group flies first to Darwin, Australia, where they will attend an induction course on conditions in the former Portuguese colony, illegally occupied by Indonesia since 1975. Controversy surrounds the referendum, which has been marked by intimidation of voters by pro-Indonesian militias. On Tuesday the UN Secretary General is to decide whether to postpone the ballot. Up to 100,000 people are estimated to be internally displaced refugees, making it difficult to register them for voting.