East Timor urges rebel soldiers to lay down arms

(Adds fighting eases, cabinet meeting, quotes, details)

By David Fox

DILI, May 27 – Gangs of youths allied to feuding East Timor
police or army units went on the rampage in parts of the
capital on Saturday, torching houses and vehicles, as
Australian and Malaysian peacekeeping troops stepped up their
patrols.

Youths armed with machetes, swords and knives patrolled
neighborhoods near government buildings against what they said
were rogue army elements planning to return from the hills
surrounding the capital of the world’s newest independent
nation.

Black smoke billowed above the city in the morning, but
residents were generally calm, gathering on corners to hear
gossip and news about the situation.

By mid-afternoon the clashes appeared to have ended,
although Australian helicopters circled the city and three navy
ships cruised along the waterfront.

The trouble started last month when the government sacked
around 600 soldiers from the 1,400-strong army after they
protested against alleged discrimination.

The army split is mirrored in the general population, with
neighborhoods and street gangs allied to one faction or
another. The police force has also effectively disintegrated,
further complicating the situation.

Earlier this week the government asked Australia, New
Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia to send troops to help restore
order. On Saturday foreign military patrols were the only sign
of any real authority.

CABINET CALL

A foreign ministry official said the cabinet had met on
Saturday and repeated a call for rebellious troops and police
to lay down their arms and return to barracks.

Residents say the rebellion has turned into a protest
against the government of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, who
they say has failed to deliver any economic or social
development since Timor became an independent state in 2002.

An election is scheduled for early next year, but some
diplomats say the government cannot last that long.

On Saturday an ailing President Xanana Gusmao, a hero of
the independence struggle, was trying to broker talks between
the government and the rebels.

An aide said Gusmao was furious that Alkatiri had not dealt
more swiftly with the soldiers’ grievances. The aide added:
“This situation has been simmering for months. It could have
been dealt with in a much better way, without this violence.”

A convoy of around 30 heavily armed Australian troops in
civilian four-wheel-drive vehicles drove around the streets
outside the government secretariat, but they appeared to steer
clear of the neighborhoods where houses were being torched.

One Australian unit rounded up about two dozen youths and
took away their weapons — mostly machetes or axes.

“We’re not chasing after them as such,” said one soldier.
“If we come across them, we’ll persuade them to drop their
stuff.”

Malaysian troops were also out on patrol for the first time
since arriving on Thursday. They drew curious stares, and
children ran behind their cars as they cruised through suburbs.

The commander of the Australian forces, Brigadier Mick
Slater, said their deployment had already made a difference.

“The amount of violence that is being reported around town
has gone downhill,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
radio.

A Portuguese colony for centuries, East Timor was annexed
by Indonesia in 1976 in a move the United Nations condemned and
much of the population resisted.

Australia led a U.N.-backed intervention force to East
Timor in 1999 to quell violence by pro-Indonesian militias
after a referendum vote for independence. This was finally
achieved in 2002 after almost three years of UN administration.

Hundreds of Timorese troops rebelled in April after they
were dismissed for protesting over what they said was
discrimination against soldiers from the west of the country.
Most of the military leadership is said to come from the east.

BLOODY

The simmering revolt turned bloody last week when police
were routed after they tried to disarm the sacked soldiers.
Officials say around 15 people have been killed in the past
three days.

But there was concern that the army divide was being
mirrored amongst citizens, with gangs of youths from the west
fighting against the east.

“Today’s incidents are truly saddening because the youths
have destroyed the image of tolerance and peace,” Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos Horta told reporters before the cabinet
met.

“Therefore I am urging these youths to stop their actions
because they will only create damage, discredit their family,
their homeland and this country,” said Ramos Horta, winner of
the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

At least three houses belonging to relatives of army
officers were torched by gangs. Scattered gunfire could be
heard, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.

“There is going to be a lot of this revenge stuff going
on,” said one businessman who had shuttered up his office
supplies shop against the possibility of looters.

Residents of neighborhoods affected by the fighting fled
their homes for sanctuary in the grounds of the scores of
churches that feature prominently in this Roman Catholic
country.

“I feel safer here, I have brought my car and my family,”
said Emil Soares, among thousands at Santo Carlos Church.

Foreign troops remain the only sign of authority on the
streets of the capital and, while their presence has calmed the
situation, it is unclear how well armed the rebels are or if
the regular army can be relied upon to disarm them.

The Australians say their aim is first to restore order to
the capital before fanning out into the rural areas where most
of the 1 million population live and where the rebels have
fled.