East Timor's Cabinet was set to hold a crisis meeting Monday as
thousands of residents fled the burning capital and rival gangs
prowled the streets armed with machetes.
The meeting came amid growing speculation that the government
could be near collapse or that parliament will be dissolved. Prime
Minister Mari Alkatiri has called the violence an organized plot to
overthrow him.
A week of bloodshed has killed at least 27 people, probably
more, raising concerns that one of the world's youngest nations is
plunging into a civil war, seven years after its traumatic break
for independence from Indonesia's iron-fisted rule.
The United Nations evacuated hundreds of employees over the
weekend, while its special representative in Dili said more
international peacekeepers may be needed to restore order in the
capital.
The current violence resembles East Timor's upheaval in 1999
when its vote for independence from Indonesia in a referendum
sparked widespread mayhem by militias linked to the Indonesian
military. East Timor declared itself independent in 2002.
What began in recent months as a schism within the armed forces
spilled over in the past week to the general population, which is
divided on geographical lines of east and west, or those perceived
to have been pro-Indonesian against those who wanted
independence.
Rival gangs torched homes and battled with machetes for a third
day on Sunday. Fire across the city filled the sky with smoke
overnight and into Monday, and the streets were strewn with
smoldering debris while Black Hawk helicopters roared overhead.
Australian troops rumbled toward the sound of gunfire in armored
personnel carriers, but seemed to only briefly scatter
combatants.
The UN special representative to East Timor, Sukehiro Hasegawa,
said goodbye to around 300 staff members being evacuated to
Australia, while cautioning that more peacekeepers may be needed to
end the lawlessness. He appealed to leaders not to fan the flames
of hatred.
"They have a difference of views in how to manage the country
and the (situation) is very, very fragile in their state," he told
reporters on Sunday.
Japan joined Australia and the United States and other nations
in pulling out non-emergency staff, as nearly 200 Chinese nationals
sought shelter at the country's embassy.
More than 60 Filipinos were also evacuated Sunday on a
Philippine air force plane. China said it would send a charter
plane on Monday to evacuate its nationals.
About 27,000 East Timorese sought refuge at shelters, said
Robert Ashe, regional representative for the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees. But the tent camps had almost no sanitation. Children
splashed in puddles polluted by human waste and many didn't have
access to food and drinking water.
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Aquilino Soares Torres, 34, fled to the airport with his wife,
relatives and eight children. He complained that the foreign troops
were failing to end the conflict.
"The don't move into the neighborhoods where the violence is
taking place," he said, holding a baby in one arm. "I think the
situation will get worse. I am ready to leave the country with just
the shirt on my back."
The unrest was triggered by the March firing of 600 disgruntled
soldiers _ more than 40 percent of the 1,400-member army _ and is
the most serious crisis East Timor has faced.
After staging deadly riots last month, the sacked troops fled
the seaside capital, setting up positions in the surrounding hills
and threatening guerrilla war if they were not reinstated.
Four people were killed Sunday, one of them burned to death
while trying to defend his home and the others shot, witnesses and
hospital officials said.
A group severely beat a man they accused of hiding guns. His
life was spared after foreign reporters intervened and he was
rushed bleeding to the hospital by aid workers.
Australia said it will send up to 50 federal police officers to
help contain marauding gangs and that around 2,000 Australian
troops were either on the ground or in transit to East Timor.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies May 29, 2006)
