Vicious ethnic gang violence and arson attacks continued for a fourth consecutive day in Dili yesterday, forcing Australian and Malaysian troops to conduct sweeping raids and seize weapons.
Witnesses said more than a dozen homes were torched in the city's worst hotspot, the western suburb of Comoro, in a continuation of violence that erupted on Saturday afternoon.
Automatic gunfire, tear gas, rock throwing and the torching of houses saw Australian and Malaysian troops race into the village of Tuti, largely inhabited by Lorosae, or easterners, after a clash with villagers from the nearby hamlet of Beto Timur who are mostly Loromonu, or westerners.
Troops from the 2200-strong international force deployed to quell unrest in the capital conducted door-to-door searches.
With Australian Black Hawk helicopters circling overhead and Australian army M-113 armoured personnel carriers clattering by on the main road, Malaysian troops patrolled the narrow streets of the suburb. Many houses appeared to have been abandoned weeks earlier and many had been looted.
And while the troop presence allowed firefighters to work on extinguishing flames, gang members easily vanished in back alleys and continued looting and arson attacks minutes after the soldiers had moved on.
The latest violence came as the Fretilin central committee held an emergency meeting to consider the crisis, amid demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. The party holds government and Dr Alkatiri is its secretary general.
Held under tight security provided by Australian troops, the meeting continued late into the afternoon at the committee's headquarters. Dr Alkatiri said he was aware of plans for a demonstration outside his office today, "which I don't object to, so long as it is peaceful".
The last mass protest against Dr Alkatiri, a month ago, left at least six people dead, and further clashes since last week have claimed about 30 lives, including those of 12 unarmed Timorese police shot dead by military personnel.
There were reports yesterday that the UN had ordered its staff not to co-operate with an Australian Federal Police investigation into that incident.
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who visited Dili at the weekend, refused to be drawn on whether Dr Alkatiri should remain as head of government, as a power struggle continued between the Prime Minister and President Xanana Gusmao, but said East Timor's crippled administration needed to resolve its internal problems.
Mr Downer's trip included an emotional meeting with Xanana Gusmao, in which the East Timorese President was visibly upset at the suffering of his people.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd confirmed yesterday he would visit East Timor today at the invitation of the Government.
Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta, who has assumed responsibility for the country's strife-torn military after the resignations of defence minister Roque Rodrigues and interior minister Rogerio Lobato, flew by helicopter yesterday to visit several key players in the unrest, including absconded military police major Alfredo Reinado.
Dili's descent into anarchy has largely been the result of conflicts between gangs of youths, often fuelled by alcohol.
At least three men were detained yesterday, including the village head of Tuti, but four more armed men escaped a follow-up raid by running from the immediate area and hailing a taxi at gunpoint.
Villagers who remained in Tuti after the military sweeps said the four, who between them were carrying at least two firearms, shouted at the taxi driver that they would shoot him if he did not give them a ride.
The villagers also accused the Australian and Malaysian troops of being heavy-handed and failing to stem the violence, and of making their entry to the village from only one point, allowing the suspects to escape.
"The ones who have guns, they return as soon as the foreign troops are gone," said one villager, Joao Naro. "We cannot sleep at night for worrying. The Australians should establish a permanent guard here."
The foreign peacekeeping troops have not yet fired a shot but they are also hampered by having to respond to ad-hoc situations with no clear target. |
AT his home yesterday, East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao accepted weapons handed over by civilians. Mr Gusmao said he expected more people to turn in their arms as the political crisis dragged on. The popular president, embroiled in a stand-off with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri over recent violence, was handed seven rifles by civilians. However, he declined to allow the civilians to be named or be photographed. "The priority of this government is to have all the weapons in the hands of civilians returned to government hands," he said. 
A RETIRED Portuguese general who once commanded a UN force in East Timor claimed that Australia had provoked the crisis there in order to take control of the fledgling country. "What interests the Australians most is oil and gas," Alfredo Assuncao said in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias. "So what better way to control these enormously rich resources than to be physically present and control the country's political system?" said Mr Assuncao, who was chief of staff of a UN peacekeeping force in East Timor in 2000-01.