---------------------------------------------------------- FREE for JOIN Indonesia Daily News Online via EMAIL: go to: http://www.indo-news.com/subscribe.html - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - FREE - Please Visit Our Sponsor http://www.indo-news.com/cgi-bin/ads1 ++ Pemilu Online: http://www.indo-news.com/pemilu/ ++ ---------------------------------------------------------- Antara, 21 Juni 1999 UNAMET Must Be Flexible in Atambua Refugee Case - P3TT Spokesman Atambua, E Nusa Tenggara, June 20 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Task Force for the Implementation of Direct Ballot in East Timor (P3TT) has called on the UN mission in the troubled former Portuguese territory not to force the East Timorese living in Atambua refugee camps on the East Timor - East Nusa Tenggara border area to return home for registration and cast their votes in the August 8 popular consultation. "With regard to the refugees, we have asked the United Nations Assessment Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) to be flexible by letting them register themselves and cast their votes at the refugee camps," P3TT spokesman, Dino Patti Djalal, told reporters here Saturday. Dino admitted that there is a small problem regarding the method by which the UNAMET team would count the votes of the East Timorese at the Atambua camps, East Nusa Tenggara, some four- hour-drive from the East Timor capital of Dili. Officially, there are no polling stations in the area but UNAMET should be flexible in this case, because the UN team spends a lot of money on helping the 500 East Timorese living in Macao (China) cast their votes in the August 8 direct ballot - while the same privilege cannot be given to the some 4,000 East Timorese in Atambua, merely 150 km west of Dili, he said. "Thus, I think it (Atambua case) can easily be settled if UNAMET has the political will, and also believe it does not violate the New York agreement which allows the East Timorese at large cast their votes in the direct ballot." Regarding the vote on the UN-sponsored autonomy package, P3TT called on the people of East Timmor to participate in it by casting their votes in accordance with their aspirations. P3TT will be neutral, Dino said, adding that the task force merely urges eligible voters to register their names at the UN team and cast their votes on August 8. In the meantime, chairman of the Golkar Party, East Timor chapter, Armindo Mariano Soares said UNAMET cannot use current situation which actually has much improved, as an excuse to cancel the upcoming popular consultation. "UNAMET has not done much to pave the way toward a smooth direct ballot as called for in the May 5 tripartite agreement. So, don't use the security situation as an excuse," Soares said in response to UNAMET's role in making the direct ballot a success. (T.DLI-001/NN-03/17:07/INT-NG/21:00/NN01/21:23/TB05) ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Didistribusikan tgl. 25 Jun 1999 jam 05:09:48 GMT+1 oleh: Indonesia Daily News Online <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.Indo-News.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
