"We deal with the authorities. We deal with those who are in control," said United Nations Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan, rather testily, when asked in New York why the Indonesian army rather than a UN peace-keeping force will provide security for a UN-brokered referendum on the future of East Timor on August 8th.
This is the rub for pro-independence leaders in the former Portuguese colony, who generally welcomed the historic agreement to hold the referendum, signed in New York by the Indonesian and Portuguese foreign ministers yesterday.
They expressed disappointment, however, that the military, which has occupied East Timor for 24 years after an invasion which cost up to 200,000 lives, has been entrusted by the UN with providing a free and fair environment for the ballot.
"Asking the Indonesian army to guarantee the security of the people is the same as asking Milosevic to guarantee the security of the people of Kosovo," said Nobel peace prize-winner Mr Jose Ramos-Horta, who nevertheless welcomed the accord "with many doubts and many reservations".
In Jakarta, resistance leader Mr Xanana Gusmao was more positive, saying that "the long years of sacrifice have been worth it".
Under the referendum agreement, the East Timorese will be asked "Do you accept the proposed special autonomy for East Timor within the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia?" or "Do you reject the proposed special autonomy for East Timor, leading to East Timor's separation from Indonesia?"
Indonesian military commander Gen Wiranto welcomed the signing yesterday as did Mr Basilio Araujo, a spokesman for a pro-integration group, the Unity, Democracy and Justice Forum. Pro-Jakarta militias had previously vowed to resist the ballot. A big majority in East Timor is believed to favour independence rather than the form of autonomy on offer, under which the Indonesian security forces retain control.
On the ground in East Timor the situation was reported to be very tense yesterday.
"We do not understand why the instigator of the conflict is still trusted to keep the peace," Mr Zoao Sarmento of the East Timor Student Council, speaking by telephone from the capital, Dili, said. Students there still dare not go out at night because of patrols by armed pro-integration militias.
The UN will send 600 civilians from Australia, the US, the Philippines and Japan to organise the ballot, backed by some 200 unarmed police. Col Timbul Silaen, East Timor's police chief, refused a request by Australia that police carry handguns for protection.
"The situation is still very bad," Mr Manuel Abrantes, head of the East Timor Justice and Peace Commission, told The Irish Times yesterday.
Militiamen, backed and armed by the 15,000-strong Indonesian army contingent in East Timor, have been going house to house beating and abducting civilians in Hatolia, about 45 km (30 miles) south-west of Dili, according to Mr Cristavao Takamatan of the East Timorese Socialist Party.
"They beat the locals," he said. "Sometimes they kidnap them."
Despite the terror, the mainly pro-independence students have seized back some of the initiative, demonstrating briefly yesterday at the university for the third day running.
Under the agreement, the future of East Timor will be decided by 600,000 Timorese aged 17 or over born in East Timor, who had at least one parent born there, or are married to a person who meets those requirements. Some 30,000 exiles in Australia, Portugal, Mozambique, Macau, the US and several cities in Indonesia are also eligible to vote.
Under the terms of the accord, the UN secretary-general is empowered to call off the vote if he decides security has not been established.
A memorandum calls for bringing armed groups under control, the "laying down" of weapons by rival factions, and an end to rallies by armed groups, according to reports from the UN.
Mr Annan has said he is "gravely concerned" about escalating bloodshed in Timor.
AFP adds from Strasbourg: The European Parliament yesterday called for immediate deployment of "a UN police force" in East Timor.