UNITED NATIONS - U.N. special envoy Ian Martin on Tuesday called for U.N. peacekeepers to return to East Timor to help stabilize the country a year after U.N. forces were withdrawn.
Martin told the U.N. Security Council international assistance should extend from actual policing to long-term development of a national police force.
Martin was dispatched to East Timor after riots broke out in the capital Dili in late April following the dismissal of 594 soldiers.
There has been sporadic violence since, driving some 133,000 people from their homes, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this week.
East Timor's government also requested U.N. help with the police in a letter to the U.N. Secretary-General this month.
Australia, Portugal, Malaysia and New Zealand sent troops and police to the world's youngest nation last month after the rash of violence stemming from regional differences and the soldiers' dismissal. U.N. peacekeepers had been withdrawn from East Timor when the security situation appeared stable.
Foreign peacekeepers are expected to stay in East Timor for the next six months to a year. The U.N. hopes to send U.N. police and troops to join them on the ground in six months and eventually take over the peacekeeping operation.
The U.N. will soon send an assessment team to East Timor as the next step in planning for a new U.N. mission.
Martin said a U.N. presence would be particularly helpful as East Timor prepares for a 2007 election.
He also called for an impartial investigation into the recent violence, saying there could be no political reconciliation until recent events were better understood.
East Timor became independent four years ago after centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of Indonesian occupation and 2-1/2 years of U.N. administration.
East Timor's U.N. ambassador, Jose Luis Guterres, said the crisis was largely limited to Dili. While there was no guarantee the violence was over, the country could soon return to stability, he said.
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