Troops secure Timor airport

By Lirio da Fonseca

DILI (Reuters) – East Timor soldiers opened fire on unarmed
police on Thursday, killing nine officers and wounding 27 other
people, as Australian commandos secured the airport in the
capital to try to help restore order in the country.

About 150 commandos arrived and secured Dili airport ahead
of the deployment of 1,300 troops after weeks of unrest in the
world’s newest independent nation.

A U.N. spokesman said army elements attacked the Dili
police headquarters and, after a negotiated ceasefire, “as the
unarmed police were being escorted out, army soldiers opened
fire on them, killing nine, and wounding 27 others, including
two U.N. police officers.”

In other incidents, at least three people were killed and
many wounded, Arlindo Marcal, East Timor ambassador in Jakarta,
told Reuters.

East Timor’s inexperienced and cash-strapped government has
been struggling to cope with clashes which were first sparked
by the sacking of about half the army. At least six people had
been killed in Dili before Thursday.

Witnesses reported widespread shooting in the capital on
Thursday and some buildings had been razed.

“… we are now hiding,” one resident told Reuters. “(There
are) no people walking around in Dili except the military and
also the police.”

FOREIGNERS EVACUATED

“It’s quite clear the situation in Dili has deteriorated
(today),” Australian Prime Minister John Howard told reporters
in Canberra. “There are widespread reports of a very chaotic
situation.”

East Timor asked for troops from Australia, New Zealand,
Portugal and Malaysia after a military police unit rebelled and
Dili’s own forces failed to calm the situation.

One of the tasks of the multinational force will be to
evacuate up to 800 Australians, along with hundreds of other
foreigners, the Australian Associated Press said.

The first evacuees — about 55 foreign nationals — were
flown to Darwin in northern Australia on Thursday night.

“I think probably in reality what we are really looking for
now is the deployment being able to spread out,” Australian
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told ABC Television.

The Australian soldiers would provide stability so that
“the security forces loyal to the government will be able to
regroup and that the rebels, too, will be able to concentrate
themselves in one area or another, presumably outside of Dili,”
he said.

A leader of the rebel military faction, Major Alfredo
Reinaldo, who was trained in Australia, said he would cooperate
with Australian troops but distrusted the East Timor
government.

The ostensible reason for the unrest is the unhappiness of
sacked soldiers over firings, benefits and discrimination.

Officials say opposition groups have exploited the
situation, sparking attacks and resisting mediation.

U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL DEBATE

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement on
Thursday in Hanoi, where he was visiting, that he was sending a
special envoy to Dili to assess the situation.

Annan had requested urgent U.N. Security Council approval
for military assistance, but the council put off action after
Russia argued more information was needed, diplomats said.

Malaysia has postponed its deployment of 500 military and
police personnel. Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said it was
seeking clarification about the mission.

Australia led a U.N.-backed force in 1999 to quell violence
after East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. An
estimated 1,000 people died in that violence, blamed mostly on
pro-Jakarta militia backed by Indonesian military elements.

Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 after centuries of
Portuguese control, and in 1976 declared it an Indonesian
province.

East Timor is one of the world’s poorest countries but has
potentially lucrative oil and gas reserves.

(Additional reporting by James Grubel and Michelle Nichols
in Canberra; Achmad Sukarsono, Muklis Ali and Telly Nathalia in
Jakarta; Grant McCool in Hanoi; and Jalil Hamid in Kuala
Lumpur)