CHANGING HANDS

October 26, 1999
		The United Nations formally took control of East Timor Tuesday, bringing to an end 23 years of controversial Indonesian rule. -- Posted 4:45 PM ET

Online NewsHour Special Report: East Timor Independence Sept. 28, 1999: Three experts discuss U.N. plans to bring peace to East Timor. Online Backgrounder: A look at East Timor's stormy history. Sept. 27, 1999: The Indonesian military hands over control of East Timor to peacekeepers. Sept. 24, 1999: International troops conduct house to house searches for militia members.. Sept. 14, 1999: An newsmaker interview with Madeleine Albright. Browse the NewsHour's coverage of Asia.     United Nations Mission in East Timor Indonesian Embassy in Washington National Council of Timorese Resistance U.S. Embassy in Jakarta Carter Center

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Monday to send in over 9,000 troops to keep order in the area for the next two to three years. The operation, the largest the U.N. has undertaken in the past five years, will cost nearly $1 billion in the first year alone. The troops will replace the Australian-led international peacekeeping force, which secured the area in late September. Ian Martin, already head of the United Nations Mission in East Timor, will temporarily run the administrative team in charge of the half-island region's transition. Martin recognizes his will not be a simple task. "All functions of government, bit by bit, will have to be built up," he said. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said East Timor must now begin the task of creating a new government from scratch. "It's an important challenge, and I think it is a crucial stage in the lives of the people of East Timor," he said. With building supplies scarce and the island's rainy season approaching, the job of helping the island's people through this transitionary period appears increasingly difficult. Many in East Timor hope that Tuesday's transfer of power will end the bloody militia violence that has plagued the area since an August 30 pro-independence referendum. Widespread violence broke out after the vote's results were announced, and was quelled only after the Australian force entered the area. Hundreds of East Timorese were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced as bands of armed pro-Indonesia militants, often assisted by elements of Indonesia's military, roamed the countryside. The remnants of Indonesia's military presence in the area, now fewer than 1,000 soldiers and policemen, are expected to leave the island within days. Meanwhile, Indonesia's newly selected president Abdurrahman Wahid said it was essential for Indonesia to remain friendly with an independent East Timor. Wahid said he plans to meet with East Timorese resistance leader Xanana Gusmao, who is widely expected to become the region's first president. Gusmao, who had been held in an Indonesian jail for nearly seven years, is expected to travel to Jakarta in the coming weeks. "If that is true," Wahid said, "Mega [Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri] and I will pick him up at the airport."