Saturday 4 September, 1999 East Timorese vote overwhelmingly for independence
Nearly 80 per cent of voters in East Timor have voted in favour of independence. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the results at a special news conference in New York at 11.05am AEST.
Mr Annan said 344,580 or 78.5 per cent of voters voted against special autonomy with Indonesia and in favour of independence. Around 21 per cent or 94,388 voted for autonomy with Indonesia. A total of 432,287 people, or 98.6 per cent of registered East Timorese voters had cast ballots.
(11:22am AEST)
UN head in east timor: "Let me also assure the people of East Timor that the United Nations will not fail them in guiding East Timor in its transition towards independence."
(11:38am AEST)