The United Nations is investigating the
causes of a disturbance in Dili on Saturday when violence broke out amongst
7,000 people waiting for job interviews with the United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET).
The United Nations had advertised that
it would be employing some 1,900 local staff. In the violence, one international
force soldier was hit in the office by a stone thrown from the crowd and
a number of applicants were also hurt. Independence leader Ramos Horta
arrived and helped calm the situation and the interviews were cancelled
for the day.
Following Saturday's experience, the United Nations is now working with the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT) and looking at ways of breaking the large number of applicants into smaller groups.
In other developments, a workshop is underway in Dili on the issue of the Timor Gap. This has been organized by the Australian government to introduce East Timorese to the history, geography and environmental issues involved in the Timor Gap Treaty -- which was an agreement between Australia and Indonesia on the exploitation of natural resources in the area between Australia and East Timor.
The first scheduled commercial flight is due to land in Dili Tuesday -- it will be an "Air North" flight from Darwin, Australia. There will be two flights a day, six days a week.