East Timor Requests Membership from the United Nations - 2002-05-20

East Timor has requested membership from the United Nations - 2002-05-20. Following the swearing-in of the cabinet of the newly independent East Timor, the work of establishing an independent government on the ruins caused by war and foreign occupation has begun. One day after the independence of this former Portuguese colony, which had been administered by the United Nations for two and a half years, the cabinet of the new country began its work in Dili, the capital. The parliament of East Timor, which has 88 seats, held its inaugural session in this latest independent country in the world, and the first bill it passed was related to membership in the United Nations and other international organizations. Thousands of Timorese citizens took to the streets in joy. East Timor signed a historic agreement with Australia, which led the peacekeeping forces in the territory, just hours after declaring independence, to entrust the rich oil resources of the Timor Sea continental shelf, which could bring billions of dollars in revenue to this new and impoverished country, to Australian oil companies. In the early hours of today, Xanana Gusmão, the former leader of the East Timorese guerrillas, was sworn in as the first president of this fledgling country and called for reconciliation and the establishment of new relations with Indonesia.