Bermuda's presence on the list of the world's few remaining colonies has been labelled an "anachronism" by a top Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) official.

"Bermuda is as close to independence as she could be without taking that final step," said Roy Osborne, deputy head of the Overseas Territories department at last week's UN decolonisation summit meeting in Anguilla.

"So I don't think describing Bermuda as under colonial administration comes anywhere close to reflecting the reality of the situation which makes me wonder what Bermuda is doing on the C24 list (of the world's non self governing territories)."

Mr. Osborne, the highest ranking UK Government official to address the decolonisation conference, called on the gathering to find ways of speeding up the decolonisation process but insisted that his country's policies on self determination had not changed.

"It is not for me to suggest ways in which to take forward the decolonisation agenda. But it does seem to me that we cannot continue year after year with resolutions that fail to show significant progress. Surely it should be an objective and be possible to remove some Territories from the list each year?" he said at the start of the three day meeting.

"If delisting one or two territories per year is agreed as a target, I hope also that the C24 would take decisions to de-list in as simple and pragmatic a way as possible.

"If the process is unnecessarily complex, lengthy and expensive, I suspect that some Territories will be put off by the amount of work involved and will be reluctant to cooperate."

Mr. Osborne's statement, his presence and the fact that the meeting was held in a British colony, are considered significant because of Britain's historically uneasy relationship with the UN Decolonisation Committee which was set up to facilitate ending colonialism in keeping with a 1960 UN Declaration which declared colonialism a violation of the UN Charter.

During the discussion which followed his statement, Mr. Osborne said that he was ready for Bermuda to take the final step to Independence.

He said the British government had given Bermuda increased autonomy over the years with the expectation that those decisions were steps towards Independence.

And he suggested that the Committee send a delegation to Bermuda to decide for themselves whether Bermuda was ready for Independence.

The Committee maintains the official list of the world1s non-self governing territories.

Besides independence the UN says that ending colonialism could be achieved by full integration of a territory into an independent state or "free association" with another state.

The Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonisation, organised by the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation, was held May 20 through 22 and was the third such meeting since the United Nations launched the second international decade for the eradication of colonialism (2000 2010).

"Perhaps the time has come in this, the second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism, to look at imaginative but straightforward ways in which to do this," Mr. Osborne said.

"To begin removing Territories from the list and to make sure we are not still meeting to discuss decolonisation ten years from now." The tiny dependency of Pitcairn (population, 47) managed to send a representative to Anguilla as did St. Helena and every other colony of Britain except for Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

BVI had an excuse for not sending a delegation to Anguilla last week where the latest meeting of the United Nations Decolonisation Committee, known as the Committee of 24, was held the three day seminar clashed with the territory1s elections.

But the Bermuda Government, which has the most advanced constitutional arrangements among the world's 16 remaining non-self governing territories, and is now led by a pro-Independence Progressive Labour Party (PLP), was not represented at what delegates called a historic event.

That, says political scientist Walton Brown, raised some eyebrows in The Valley, Anguilla, where the summit was held.

The conference heard a message from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan who reminded the gathering that self-government was one of the world body1s "cardinal goals". Just two million people live in non self governing territories today. "Under the Organisation's auspices, more than 80 million people have exercised their right to self determination, and decolonisation can truly be considered a United Nations success story," Mr. Annan said.

Mr. Brown had been asked to present a paper on Bermuda to the delegates. He told The Royal Gazette that delegates complained bitterly about Bermuda's absence and were perplexed that the country did not seem to be leading the way with its own moves towards independence given the country1s role as a leader in the financial services industry and its robust economy.

Government1s Department of Communication and Information (DCI) did not respond when asked last week whether or not Bermuda had sent a delegation.

And by Press-time yesterday there was no response when asked why no one had represented Bermuda.

Stephen Huntley, the St. Lucian chairman of the decolonisation committee could not be reached for comment yesterday. Mr. Huntley made clear his disappointment at not being able to get in contact with Premier Jennifer Smith, Mr. Brown said. "He informed the conference that he was unable to speak to the Premier even though he called her on at least one occasion and send communications directly to her."