Pro-independence leaders from East Timor remained optimistic Wednesday about UN peace efforts in their homeland, despite a delay in an August poll to determine the status of the territory.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan confirmed in a report to the 15-nation Security Council that there would be a “two-week postponement” in the ballot on East Timor’s self-determination from the scheduled date of Aug. 8.

“At the present time, I would be unable to certify that the necessary conditions exist to begin the operational phases of the consultation process, given the security situation throughout much of East Timor and the absence of a level playing field,” Annan said.

Annan blamed much of the violence on the ground on militias loyal to Indonesia, East Timor’s occupying power.

“In many areas, pro-integration militias, believed by many observers to be operating with the acquiescence of the army, carry out acts of violence against, and exercise an initmidating influence over, the population,” Annan argued.

“Militia activities continue to have a constricting effect on political freedom, silencing pro-independence activists and their supporters and forcing them into hiding, thus jeopardising the necessary openness of the consultation process,” he added.

Despite such a bleak assessment, Timorese pro-independence leaders Wednesday re-affirmed their support for UN efforts in East Timor.

All sides to the dispute agreed that “the existence of conditions of security and tranquility in East Timor is a ‘sine qua non’ condition for the holding of a free, fair and democratic consultation,” said Xanana Gusmao, leader of the Timorese separatists, who is under house arrest in Jakarta.

As a result, he added, his side had “full confidence” in Annan’s evaluation of the timing and conditions for a vote.

Jose Ramos Horta, co-winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, said that the current deployment of the UN Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) already had improved the situation, and still could lead the way for a fair vote on Timorese self-determination.

“In spite of the problems, I remain confident that the process is irreversible,” Ramos Horta said Wednesday.

“UNAMET has met our entire expectations,” he said. “They have performed with integrity and with impartiality.” Despite ongoing tensions with the pro-Indonesia militias “the (security) situation is beginning to improve in the capital.”

The difference in the atmosphere had been dramatic since UNAMET – which will comprise some 900 officers in all, including roughly 270 police and 50 military liaison officers – began deploying, Ramos Horta said.

“Since the beginning of the deployment of UNAMET…there has been an extraordinary feeling of hope among the people of East Timor,” Ramos Horta said. “The United Nations is really seen as being on the side of the people.”

Yet the Timorese leader acknowledged that there remain many flaws in the agreement – signed in New York on May 5 between Indonesia and Portugal, East Timor’s former colonial power – that has paved the way for the August vote.

The agreement, he argued, placed Indonesia’s “army of occupation” in charge of security in the run-up to the elections.

That responsibility, Ramos Horta said, had not been met and powerful voices ranging from Annan, in his current report, to Amnesty International blamed pro-Indonesia militias for the current violence. (Amnesty accused the militias of responsibility for at least 34 killings of pro-independence Timorese in recent days.)

Indonesian officials, however, insisted that logistical problems – rather than security considerations – were the cause of any delay. On Wednesday, Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas voiced his dismay over Annan’s announcement of a delay and demanded that the United Nations provide the reasons for any lag.

While warning of continuing violence, Annan in his report also cited that “security conditions in the cities of Dili and Baucau have visibly improved.”

Yet, he added, “the welcome atmosphere of relative calm experienced in Dili and Baucau has not extended throughout the rest of the territory. In particular, the situation in the western distrcits remains very serious.”

Beyond the violence and intimidation, there are several other potential pitfalls lying in the way before Timorese can vote either to accept autonomy under Indonesian rule or choose independence.

Ramos Horta said it would be “a sign of good faith” if Xanana Gusmao and other East Timorese political prisoners would be released in advance of a vote. But Jakarta so far shows no sign that it will set the separatists free.

Even a new date for balloting could prove controversial. A precise two-week delay would mean that the vote would be held on Aug. 22, which is a Sunday. But Jakarta has said that the vote should not take place on Sunday, to avoid offending sensibilities among East Timor’s Catholic majority.

However, Bishop Carlos Ximenes Belo, the lead Catholic official in Dili, responded that Catholics could vote on Sunday. Ramos Horta said his side was willing to compromise, and dryly added, in a comment on the Jakarta government’s statements on Catholic sensitivities, that “we are very touched by that sentiment.”