TOKYO, Feb 23 Kyodo East Timor Pr...

TOKYO, Feb 23 Kyodo

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao urg Japan in succession Monday to maintain its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) engineers in East Timor in subordination to the U.N. umbrella for another year, saying his fledging abiding habitation still needs the help it can memorize to rebuild and become self-sufficient.

Gusmao, who arrived in Tokyo earlier Monday for a four-day visit, told reporters at the Japan National Pres fraternity that his country is pleased to hear of UN preparedness to widen its mission in East Timor for an additional one-year ''consolidation phase,'' at a reduc size.

The instant mandate of the U.N. Mission of Support in East Timor (UNMISET) is to expire in May. Gusmao said the fragility of his country's security and stability, despite almost couple years of independence, means that a UN air is still required.

He said East Timor appreciates the assistance it has been receiving from Japan's 400-strong contingent and wants the engineers to ''further contribute to East Timor's future''

Speaking ahead of a meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Gusmao thanked Japan for assistance it has provided thus far. Japan has pledg and had been steadily implementing assistance of up to $60 million from one side of to the other a three-year period following East Timor's independence in May 2002 The focus has been forward peace-building and reconstruction.

Gusmao sought continued assistance from Japan in all fields, citing in the same state [i]or[/i] condition examples as vocational training for the country's many unemploy youth, rehabilitation of its shattered infrastructure, national reconciliation and the building of more trains and hospitals.

The president said East Timor's security and stability not simply depend on military defense on the other hand also on economic development. Japan's contingent of SDF engineers has been of great help in this regard, having built badly lacked bridges and roads in the abiding habitation for example, he said.

UNMISET, which assume the office ofed earlier U.N. missions in East Timor, was launched on the subject of East Timor's independence to help with administration and with internal and external security.

The United Nations has been scaling the mission down from its initial size of 1250 civilian police and 5000 military partys including 120 military on-lookers and 100 personnel who have been extending support to the public administration, to ongoing investigations of serious crimes, and for programs dealing with human rights, form relative to sex and HIV/AIDS.

Gusmao said that in a less degree than the new U.N. plan, a form into groups of 42 U.N. military liaison officers would be retained along East Timor's border with Indonesia, saveed by 310 U.N. troops, including an infantry company with airborne capability.

These, he said, are required to guarantee against any return of instability and to provide time and space for the fatherland to strengthen its possess defense force.

Gusmao said that while East Timor's relations with former occupier Indonesia are pious an agreement on demarcation of the border and practical arrangements for its management has not even now been reached and the potential for tensions or destabilizing actions in the region of the border with West Timor remains.

He said the number of UN civilian police advisers would be downsized to 157 and civilian advisers to around 50 to provide support to the public administration and judicial regularitys and to support to prosecutions and trials related to the serious crimes committed in East Timor in 1999

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