Vote on East Timor’s Future Postponed

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said a crucial Aug. 8 vote on the future of East Timor will be postponed two weeks. In a report to the Security Council, he said Indonesia, which controls East Timor, and Portugal, the former colonial power, agreed on a “two-week postponement of the ballot date” to decide the future of the territory. Annan said the U.N., which is organizing the balloting on whether the territory is to have autonomy under Indonesia or become independent, has to ensure that conditions are conducive to a fair vote and that logistics for the vote are in place. Indonesia occupied East Timor in 1975 and annexed it the following year, an action never recognized by the international community.