The UN discovered there were only 59 lawyers in the territory. None had court experience because the Indonesians who fled last year ran the judicial system. Schools, courts, clinics, hospitals and the civil administration will have to be rebuilt out of the destruction. Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian UN official appointed East Timor's transitional administrator, says foreign assistance in key positions will be needed for years. We desperately need to upgrade the skills of the Timorese.
Capacity building is a major problem.
Dili looks like a boom town. Friday night, and the DownUnder hotel bar is packed. The Australian manager grumbles about a 10 per cent tax imposed by the UN but business is good. He has vaguely heard that the hotel was the former headquarters of the most feared militia group, Aitarak. It is where the group's leader, Eurico Guterres, used to kill and torture.