# Australian peacekeepers bring calm to East Timor (29 May 06)



## 17thRecceSgt (29 May 2006)

*Australian peacekeepers bring calm to East Timor*

Last Updated Mon, 29 May 2006 00:56:41 EDT 
CBC News
East Timor was largely peaceful Sunday as hundreds of peacekeeping troops tried to restore calm to a country that has been torn by weeks of violence.

More than 2,500 peacekeepers patrolled East Timor Sunday at the request of a government which could do little to stop the machete-wielding thugs and arsonists who have terrorized the capital city of Dili.

There are now more than 2,000 Australian troops in East Timor, along with hundreds of peacekeepers from Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal.

The Red Cross says that more than 40,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, and supplies of food, fuel and water are running out.

"As long as the Australians are patrolling, we're open," Asveldo Alamar, a gas station attendant, told Reuters.

The city was wary as the roving gangs took a break from the looting and arson of recent days.  Shopkeepers kept their doors locked and refugees sought shelter at the Red Cross camps.

Meanwhile, government leaders met to try to find a long-term solution for a dispute that has been simmering between the pro- and anti-independence factions since East Timor won independence from Indonesia seven years ago.

Fighting broke into the open when the armed forces fired about 700 soldiers, half its total force, for insubordination. Unemployed soldiers demanded their jobs back, and went on a rampage when they were denied their wishes.

On Monday, Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Reuters the violence was worse than that which followed East Timor's vote for independence in 1999.

"In a way, it is more dangerous than it was in 1999, because in 1999 you had in effect an ordered retreat, not the disparate, disorganized number of gangs you are dealing with now."

Some observers in Dili *say the country is on the verge of a civil war*, with the country divided into the same pro- and anti-independence camps that fought so bloodily in the run-up to the 1999 referendum for independence.

The Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence in that ballot and there is little sign on the ground of anyone yearning for a return to rule by Jakarta.

East Timor is one of the world's poorest nations and suffers from massive unemployment.

A Portuguese colony for centuries, East Timor won independence in 1976.  But Indonesian troops marched in a week later and took control.


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## big bad john (1 Sep 2006)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601081&sid=aX44AcF2mjvA&refer=australia

East Timor Rebel Leader Evades UN Police After Jail Breakout 

By Ed Johnson

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- East Timor rebel leader Major Alfredo Reinado evaded a manhunt by United Nations police and international peacekeepers after a jail break that threatens to destabilize the country as it recovers from civil unrest. 

Reinado, whose rebel militiamen refused to lay down their weapons after the government fired around a third of the country's armed forces in March, broke out of jail in the nation's capital, Dili, yesterday with 56 other inmates. 

UN police and Australian-led peacekeepers set up checkpoints to try to stop Reinado fleeing Dili and interviewed prison guards to determine how the escape happened, the UN said in a statement. 

International peacekeepers were deployed to East Timor in May to restore calm after the collapse of the country's security forces. The violence killed 37 people and forced 155,000 people, or 15 percent of the population, from their homes. 

The breakout is a ``very real concern,'' Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said, adding he will fly to Dili Sept. 3 for talks with Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta. 

``We will be making a major effort to help the East Timorese in trying to apprehend all of those who have escaped,'' Downer told reporters in Sydney yesterday. ``It obviously constitutes a significant set back in terms of law and order.'' 

Police Commander 

Reinado, an Australian-trained former military police commander, called on the nation to rise up and join him in a ``people power'' revolution, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing a letter it said he circulated within hours of the escape. 

``All of us know that this government is illegal because it has not followed the democratic process,'' the letter said. Timorese should ``not be afraid to go into the streets to protest together because we have the right to remove the government.'' 

Ramos-Horta told the nation to remain calm and said the jail break wouldn't threaten East Timor's security, Agence France- Presse reported. 

Civil unrest erupted in the former Portuguese colony, which lies about 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of Australia, in March after former Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri dismissed 600 soldiers for deserting. 

Clashes between security forces escalated into fighting between armed gangs and, at the request of the Alkatiri's government, 2,500 peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia were deployed to restore order. 

Reinado and other rebels blamed Alkatiri for the unrest, saying he had created divisions between ethnic groups within the army. Alkatiri resigned in June and was replaced by Ramos-Horta, his foreign minister at the time and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. 

Weapons Possession 

Reinado was arrested in July on charges of weapons possession when international troops discovered he still allegedly had nine handguns. His group had promised it had surrendered all of its weapons. 

The country of about 1 million people, also known as Timor- Leste, became independent in May 2002. The country voted for independence in 1999 following a 24-year occupation by Indonesia. 

The UN has been operating in East Timor since 1999, helping organize elections and the creation of government institutions. The UN Security Council last week unanimously approved a new peacekeeping mission of up to 1,608 police for East Timor as the country prepares for elections next year.


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