UN flees East Timor's violent anarchy

Hundreds of UN employees were evacuated from East Timor today as rival gangs roamed the streets, torching homes and battling with machetes in defiance of foreign peacekeepers sent to quell violence that has plunged the fledgling country into chaos.

Thousands of residents also fled Dili, leaving much of the city streets deserted and neighbourhoods abandoned.

Many were still on the run as smoke billowed from several areas of the city where attacks were taking place as gunfire erupted in the distance. Australian troops patrolled in armoured personnel carriers, but seemed to only briefly scatter combatants.

It was unclear how many have been hurt in the recent violence, but clashes and arson continued throughout the night. At least 23 people have been killed and dozens wounded since open fighting began earlier this week.

The violence is raising concerns that the world’s youngest nation is plunging into a civil war, seven years after the traumatic break for independence from 24 years of repressive occupation by the regional giant, Indonesia.

The unrest was triggered by the March firing of 600 soldiers – nearly half the 1,400-member army – and is the most serious crisis East Timor has faced since independence.

After staging deadly riots last month, the sacked troops fled the seaside capital, setting up positions in the surrounding hills, and threatened guerrilla war if they were not reinstated.

What began as a break within the armed forced has spilled over to the general population, which is finding itself dividing down the lines of east and west, or those perceived to have been pro-Indonesian against those who wanted independence.

This morning, a man was severely beaten by a group with home-made weapons accusing him of hiding guns. His life was spared after foreign reporters intervened and he was rushed bleeding to the hospital by aid workers.

Shortly after sunrise, hundreds flocked to church to pray and sing for an and to the violence continuing just blocks away.

Julita Abuk, 30, escaped with her four children as her home was being destroyed and sat weeping at the airport. Her husband, a police commander, had been missing since a deadly shooting earlier this week which killed 10 and wounded 29.

“Just a few minutes ago they burned down my house. My cousin was there making breakfast and there were men in military uniforms with guns setting the house on fire.

“We lost everything we have. I haven’t seen my husband since the incident,” she said.

UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Sukehiro Hasegawa, speaking to reporters at the airport as he saw off around 300 of his staff members, said more peacekeepers were needed to halt the escalating unrest in the tiny nation of around a million which broke from Indonesia in 1999.

“I believe their presence will stabilise the situation, but at the same time I believe they will perhaps need more security forces here to make sure that the process of democratisation and free and fair elections can take place here next year.”

He said the current situation is an opportunity for the international community “to show that we indeed can help the people of this country” and that the UN is not abandoning East Timor.

The United Nations said it would relocate all UN families and nonessential staff to a temporary safe haven in Darwin, Australia.

Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri described the violence yesterday as “an attempt to stage a coup d’etat,” but could not say who was behind the alleged plot.

Australia, in the meantime, said it send up to 50 federal police officers to help contain marauding gangs. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the officers would likely be dispatched within the next 24 hours to help quell rising lawlessness on the streets of Dili.

Around 2,000 Australian troops were either on the ground or in transit to East Timor, the defence department said in a statement today. Seven ships and four Black Hawk helicopters were also assisting the deployment, the department said.

New Zealand and Malaysia also sent small number of troops and Portugal agreed to help.

Impoverished East Timor, a Portuguese colony for around four centuries until it was occupied by Indonesia in 1976, has received millions of dollars in international aid over the last seven years, much of it focused on building up the military.