I had this evening my youngest brother on the phone. He announced he will go to East Timor to beginning of october. There he will work for the United Nations / UNTAET. UNTAET was established to administer the territory and exercise legislative and executive authority during the transition period. UNTAET consults and works in close cooperation with the East Timorese people. Besides almost 8000 militairy persons, more than 1000 international civilian personnel are working there from many countries around the world. My brother is a tax expert and will continue the work one of his colleagues has started since the beginning of this year. Quite tough to go there for 3 months. I’m really proud of him to go there…

[East Timor’s independence leader Xanana Gusmao gestures during a press conference in Dili, East Timor, Saturday, Sept. 1, 2001. Gusmao said that he was pleased that parliamentary elections on Thursday went smoothly. Mural rear depicts East Timor’s independence struggle. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)]

East Timor commemorate the second anniversary of the announcement of the vote for independence in 1999 in Dili. A hundred people were killed and the country was destroyed by Indonesian military and East Timorese militia following the vote. Two years later, East Timor voted to elect an assembly to draw up the territory’s first constitution after over 500 years of colonial rule.