Dili - A climate of fear and intimidation still reigns in East Timor and much work remains to be done before a UN-conducted vote on self-determination can go ahead there, Mr Francesc Vendrell, a special envoy of the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, said here yesterday. Mr Annan announced on Saturday that he had ordered a three-day delay (from tomorrow to Friday) in voter registration mainly because armed Indonesian-backed militias were roaming the territory with impunity.
A delegation of senior Indonesian ministers and military brass is expected today in East Timor in what is widely seen as Jakarta's last chance to rein in the pro Jakarta militias.
Aid agencies say at least 60,000 people have been displaced from their homes and an even larger number need humanitarian assistance because of a campaign of terror by militias. UNAMET personnel with a convoy carrying medicines and rice to some 6,000 refugees last week were attacked by the militia, reinforcing the belief the militias were using food as a weapon against the refugees.
One of President B.J. Habibie's top aides, and a key adviser on Timor policy, Ms Dewi Fortuna Anwar, has said: "If the ballot fails to take place on time, there is real danger of it being postponed indefinitely."