DILI (AFP) — East Timor's security situation now appears stable but international assistance is still required, the head of a visiting delegation from the UN Security Council said Friday.
The tiny nation spiralled into violence last April and May when security forces waged battle on the streets, killing at least 37 people and forcing the deployment of international troops to restore calm.
Most are still here patrolling to maintain security and thousands of people remain in displacement camps unable or too afraid to return home.
The team, which wrapped up a one-week visit on Friday, held meetings with the president, prime minister, political parties, non-government organisations and the internally displaced, its head Dumisani Kumalo said.
"Our general impression is that this country is doing very well and the security appears very good, but this country is still needing a lot of international assistance," Kumalo told a press briefing.
"We will go back to New York to write a report for the Security Council ... I can assure you that there will be continued international support for the UN to do its job," said Kumalo, who is also South Africa's UN Ambassador.
The Council said ahead of the visit that it was meant to underscore its commitment to the tiny Pacific nation's sovereignty and long-term stability.
Three main outstanding problems remained in East Timor, Kumalo said, based on discussions with people that took them to two districts outside the capital.
These were the case of rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, who remains on the run; internally displaced people; and unresolved grievances of so-called "petitioners", the group of soldiers whose initial firing triggered last year's violence.
President Jose Ramos-Horta, a Nobel peace laureate, told the team "that he is dealing with these three issues and in fact he is engaging a plan to resolve these three issues," Kumalo said.
All political parties needed to work on resolving these issues, the ambassador said. The former ruling party Fretilin was voted out of power in elections earlier this year which party members claimed resulted in an unconstitutional government.
"I think the priority for the short term for this country is to continue national reconciliation and dialogue among the parties," he added.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was separated from Jakarta following a 1999 independence vote marred by deadly violence inflicted by the Indonesian military and its militia allies.
Indonesia had invaded East Timor, which is formally known as Timor-Leste, in 1975.
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