UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has dispatched a senior envoy to assess mounting unrest in Timor-Leste.
Chief U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York Thursday the assignment was made after rioting recently erupted in the former East Timor. The dismissal of a large portion of the national army apparently triggered the unrest.
Concerned over the developments, Annan Thursday telephoned regional leaders including President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri of Timor-Leste, as well as prime ministers John Howard of Australia and Abdullah Badawi of Malaysia, who have committed to send forces to help restore stability, the spokesman said.
Australian troops already have arrived in the nation's capital of Dili.
Dujarric said Annan, currently visiting Thailand, is also consulting with the governments of New Zealand and Portugal, the former colonial power.
"In view of the deteriorating security and complex political situation, the secretary-general has decided to send Ian Martin, head of the U.N. Human Rights Mission in Nepal, to Dili to assess the situation first hand," the spokesman said.
Martin was Annan's special representative in East Timor in 1999, when the Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, which occupied the country after Portugal left in 1974.
The United Nations shepherded the island state to independence from Indonesia in 2002.
The U.N. Security Council Wednesday appealed to all parties in Timor-Leste to put an end to the violence and to participate in the democratic process, respecting human rights and refraining from any intimidation.
