UN says East Timor ready to protect itself

15 Aug 2012, 6:02 pm   -   Source: AAP
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon met with President Taur Matan Ruak, the former army chief and guerrilla fighter, who was voted into office in April. (Getty Images)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon met with President Taur Matan Ruak, the former army chief and guerrilla fighter, who was voted into office in April. (Getty Images)

East Timor, Asia's newest country, is ready for the withdrawal of hundreds of international peacekeepers, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

RELATED

East Timor, Asia's newest country, is ready for the withdrawal of hundreds of international peacekeepers, says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban met on Wednesday with President Taur Matan Ruak, the former army chief and guerrilla fighter, who was voted into office in April.

The two-day trip came after the UN Security Council praised the country of 1.1 million people for holding peaceful presidential elections.

Violence after last month's parliamentary elections left one dead. But Ban said the country was planning for the remaining 400 international UN peacekeepers to leave.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, voted in 1999 to end 24 years of brutal Indonesian occupation that left more than 170,000 dead.

Indonesian soldiers and proxy militias killed 1,500 people and destroyed much of East Timor's infrastructure as they withdrew.

  • Follow us: 
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Youtube