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East Timor celebrates 10th Anniversary of Popular Consultation

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-31 14:18

DILI: East Timor celebrated the 10th anniversary of its popular consultation on Sunday, with the main streets and government offices in Dili decorated with colorful flags and banners.

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Foreign guests, including Australian Governor General Quentin Bryce, head of the Australian-led multinational peacekeeping mission in 1999 General Cosgrove and Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda, presented at the celebration, as well as envoys from other countries.

East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta made a speech during the celebration, saying that the country will not set any international tribunal for Indonesian generals and militia leaders who are responsible for the deaths of around 1,400 people in the aftermath of the historic referendum.

East Timor held a UN-supervised popular referendum was on August 30, 1999, to choose between Special Autonomy within Indonesia and independence, and the result comes that 78.5 percent of voters chose independence. The country successfully laid the institutional foundations for independence, and on September 27, 2002, East Timor joined the United Nations.