UN hears plea for peacekeepers' return to E. Timor

UNITED NATIONS, June 13 (Reuters) UN special envoy Ian Martin today called for UN peacekeepers to return to East Timor to help stabilize the country a year after UN forces were withdrawn.

Martin told the UN Security Council international assistance should extend from actual policing to long-term development of a national police force.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had dispatched Martin 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 UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this week.

East Timor's government also requested UN help with the police in a letter to Annan 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. UN peacekeepers had been withdrawn from East Timor when the security situation appeared stable.

Annan told reporters the foreign peacekeepers expected to stay in East Timor for the next six months to a year. He hoped UN police and troops could join them on the ground in six months and eventually take over the peacekeeping operation.

Annan said he would soon send an assessment team to East Timor as the next step in planning for a new UN mission.

Martin said a UN 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 UN administration.

East Timor's UN 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.

REUTERS SY BD2353