The Hindu : International : Fierce gunbattles in East Timor

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Friday, May 26, 2006

International

International

Fierce gunbattles in East Timor

International peacekeepers arrive in Dili amid fears of civil war

— PHOTO: AP

FLEEING TO SAFETY: East Timorese refugees head for a U.N. camp in Dili on Thursday.

DILI (East Timor): International peacekeepers arrived in East Timor's capital to restore order as gunbattles between rebel troops and government forces threatened to plunge the world's youngest country into civil war.

At least three persons were killed and more than a dozen wounded in fierce fighting across Dili, sending terrified residents and foreigners fleeing for safety, some rushing to the airport.

``I feel horrible, like a rat deserting a sinking ship,'' said Australian Margaret Hall, who arrived in the country several months ago with an organisation that is helping provide maternal and child health care. ``But I'm confident we'll be back.''

Serious threat

The unrest in East Timor is the most serious threat to the desperately poor country since it broke from Indonesian rule in 1999 in massive violence that ended only with the arrival of an Australian-led international peacekeeping mission.

The United Nations administered the tiny nation for the next three years, during which time the army was formed — critics say too hastily, contributing to the present crisis.

The latest dispute started in March when 600 soldiers — nearly 40 per cent of East Timor's entire armed forces — were fired after going on strike to protest alleged discrimination in the military. Some hard-liners fled the capital, hunkering down in surrounding hills and threatening guerilla warfare if they were not reinstated.

Gunbattles erupted on Thursday for a third day in several parts of Dili — including near President Xanana Gusmao's office and the U.N. compound where around 1,500 residents had sought refuge.

Homes and business were torched, with plumes of smoke rising over virtually deserted streets.

Two former soldiers and an army captain were killed, bringing the death toll in this week's bloodshed to five, said the military and Lt. Gastao Salsinha, a spokesman for the ex-soldiers. Fourteen ex-soldiers and a South Korean bystander were wounded.

Some of the fiercest fighting took place when unidentified gunmen attacked police headquarters, suggesting that elements of the police had now taken sides in the conflict, said a U.N. staffer.

The chaos prompted the fledgling nation's government to ask for international troops.

— AP

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