Annan Lays Wreath at Massacre Site
An emotional U.N. chief Kofi Annan was greeted with cheers and tears when he arrived in East Timor, laying a wreath at a church where dozens of people were massacred during a wave of violence last year. Annan and his wife, Nane, shed tears as he laid the wreath in the town of Liquisa, scene of some of the worst bloodshed before and after a U.N.-run vote in which the East Timorese overwhelmingly chose to break away from Indonesian rule. A U.N. peacekeeping force will oversee the territory’s transition to independence, taking over next Wednesday from a U.N.-mandated multinational force sent in after pro-Indonesian militias went on a rampage after the Aug. 30 vote.
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