UN appeals for $18.9 million in aid for East Timor

By Staff
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UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Reuters) The United Nations today asked donor nations and relief groups for 18.9 million dollars for emergency humanitarian aid for troubled East Timor after a wave of deadly clashes, arson and looting.

Some 70,000 people have left their homes for refuge in safe locations across the capital Dili while an additional 63,000 have fled the capital for the countryside, straining supplies of food and other emergency goods, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

''Those who have been displaced by the deplorable violence of the past weeks need our help,'' said U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland in a statement announcing the appeal.

While immediate needs have been met, the 18.9 million dollars now being sought is intended to meet basic needs, prevent the spread of disease and provide shelter to those in need over the next three months, the UN office said.

An international peacekeeping force led by Australia moved into the world's youngest nation last month after a rash of violence stemming from regional differences and the dismissal of nearly 600 soldiers.

The United Nations is now weighing whether to send in a small peacekeeping mission to take over from the Australians. UN peacekeepers had been in East Timor until a year ago but were pulled out after officials concluded the area had sufficiently stabilized.

East Timor became independent four years ago after centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of occupation by Indonesia and 2-1/2 years of UN administration.

But riots broke out in Dili in late April after the cash-strapped government dismissed 594 soldiers, and there has been sporadic violence since then.

REUTERS SY BD2150

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