via Dow Jones Newswires
UNITED NATIONS (AP)--Militia groups fighting in East Timor must lay down their arms by early July as a key condition for the U.N.-supervised ballot on the troubled territory's future to go ahead on Aug. 8, a senior U.N. official said Monday.
Following Wednesday's historic agreement giving the people of East Timor the right to decide whether they want to remain part of Indonesia or seek independence, the U.N. is now focusing on ending violence in the former Portuguese territory and ensuring security for the ballot.
In the weeks leading up to the vote, Secretary-General Kofi Annan will be constantly assessing the security situation to determine whether the ballot should go ahead, said Francesc Vendrell, director of the Asia and Pacific division of the U.N. Department of Political Affairs.
The secretary-general's first major report to the Security Council on security conditions will be issued in mid-June. It will determine whether the registration process can begin as scheduled in the third week of June, Vendrell said.
"For the registration process to begin, there have to be minimum security conditions, minimum ability for the various political groups to express themselves, freedom for the voters to go to the registration offices and register themselves," he told a news conference.
But he cautioned that Annan "might be forced to stop the process later on if the situation were to change," he said.
Violence has escalated in the half-island territory since Indonesia - in a surprise policy reversal - announced in January that it would put the 800,000 Timorese on the road to independence if they reject wide-ranging autonomy.
Pro-independence rebel groups and pro-Indonesian militiamen blame each other for the upsurge in fighting. Both sides signed a peace pledge on April 21, along with top Indonesian military leaders, but the violence has continued.
Annan demanded that all armed groups lay down their weapons "well in advance of the holding of the ballot" in a memorandum spelling out minimum security conditions for the ballot.
While there is no deadline, Vendrell said, "it would have to be by early July at least."
The memorandum, which the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers agreed to before Wednesday's agreement was signed, calls for the militias to be brought "under strict control and discipline" as an urgent first step. It also demands "redeployment of Indonesian military forces," but gave no figures.
"Those are elements that I'm sure the Indonesian government knows and recognizes are important," said Vendrell, who was a key behind-the-scenes figure in the U.N.-sponsored talks that led to the agreement.
A 600-strong U.N. mission will oversee voting and a U.N. advance team has already arrived in East Timor, U.N. officials say.
Vendrell said the U.N. expects the entire international team to be deployed by mid-June. Approximately 400 are likely to be registration and polling officers - two per polling station - plus 15-18 political and civilian advisers and logistical staff, he said.
An undetermined number of U.N. civilian police advisers should also arrive in East Timor by mid-June, Vendrell said.
Under the agreement, the U.N. police team will advise East Timor police who are charged with maintaining law and order during the ballot. They will also supervise the escort of ballot boxes and ballot papers to and from polling stations.
The advance team's report will determine the number of advisers to be sent to the territory and other issues, including whether they carry any arms, Vendrell said.
The U.N. official who will head the mission is expected to be named in the next 48 hours and should arrive in East Timor around May 20, he said.