NEW ZEALAND VIEWS ON THE FUTURE OF UNMISET

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000168

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KPKO PREL TL NZ UNSC
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND VIEWS ON THE FUTURE OF UNMISET

REF: SECSTATE 24208


1. According to an official at New Zealand's Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT),New Zealand agrees that the
time has come to wrap up peacekeeping operations in East
Timor. New Zealand believes UNMISET should be replaced by a
scaled-down, time-bound political mission under UN auspices,
along the lines of existing UN political missions. MFAT
officials believe this is the best way to balance East
Timor's capacity-building needs with its need to protect
still-fragile institutions and sectors.


2. New Zealand's own possible aid to East Timor will
probably be managed by NZAID, the government's
AID-equivalent. New Zealand's bilateral assistance program
for East Timor is set to expand soon, as New Zealand will in
the near future change its consulate in Dili to an Embassy.
At this point, however, no decisions have been made on what
sort of assistance to provide. Our contact said that a
previous offer by New Zealand to help train police officers
was rejected by East Timor officials, as the New Zealand
trainers spoke no Portuguese. New Zealand will wait to see
what comes out of the UNSC meeting before making any
decisions whether to provide funds for UNDP programs in East
Timor.
Swindells