Anti-govt protesters allowed into East Timor capital

About 2,000 protesters calling for the resignation of East Timor’s prime minister cruised around parliament in a convoy of horn-blaring trucks and motorcycles today, hours after mobs set buildings on fire and looted a warehouse filled with farm supplies.

The unrest was less severe than the fighting between military factions and gang warfare that erupted last month, killing at least 30 people, but underscored the huge challenge for international forces and East Timor’s fractured government as they try to restore a sense of normalcy to Dili.

Tens of thousands of fearful residents have fled from their homes and are living in makeshift camps and shelters in and around the city. UN agencies have delivered emergency airlifts of food rations, cooking sets, tents and blankets.

Malaysian peacekeepers searched vehicles on a major road near the airport in one of their most robust security checks in recent days.

They at first blocked the convoy of flag-waving protesters, but eventually allowed them to enter the city under the escort of Malaysian armoured personnel carriers.

“Down with (prime minister Mari) Alkatiri,” the demonstrators shouted, punching their fists in the air as they circled parliament and government offices.

A man using a loudspeaker urged East Timorese to forget their differences and unite: “Give power to President Xanana Gusmao and bring down Alkatiri!”

The convoy stopped at the office of Gusmao, an adored former guerrilla chief who stood on the roof of a car with a loudspeaker and said he would consider the demands, but urged the protesters to be peaceful.

“We have discussed this in the Council of State and we realised we have a political crisis, an economic crisis, a security crisis, a constitutional crisis,” said Gusmao, his eyes filling with tears at times. “The priority now is to stop people burning, and guns shooting.”

House speaker Francisco Guterres said no protests should be allowed while so many were homeless.

“The government … should bring home refugees in the camps step by step first before permitting any groups to speak out about their political interest through demonstrations,” Guterres said.

Earlier in the day, hundreds of young men looted a warehouse near the city centre, running off with agricultural machinery, bags of grain, sheet metal and fertiliser. In neighbourhoods close to the airport, several plumes of smoke rose from buildings set on fire by rampaging gangs.

The wave of unrest in recent weeks is the worst since East Timor’s bloody break for independence from Indonesian rule in 1999, when retaliatory militia groups devastated much of the territory and killed nearly 1,500 people.

Australia suggested a long-term UN-backed security force was needed.

“We are suffering a lot now,” said Juvinal do Carmo, who is living in a camp set up in front of the Hotel Timor. “Our leaders should end this immediately or more kids and pregnant women will die because of very bad conditions in the camps.”

With his family’s house burned down, do Carmo’s view of the future was far from hopeful.

“I do not have money now to build a new house for my family,” he said. “I’ve lost everything. I do not know what I am going to do after I leave this camp.”

Today, East Timorese politicians met in parliament for a second day to discuss the turmoil in a sign that the fragile government was reviving.

Some politicians expressed frustration about security in Dili and urged Gusmao, as the newly appointed head of the armed forces, to authorise local and international troops to shoot dead gang members who were caught torching homes.

“International forces have done nothing to stop the troublemakers,” Osorio Florindo, a politician from the ruling Fretilin party, told the session.

Parliament’s session was its first since fighting surged last month in Dili, although MPs said some colleagues did not attend because they feared for their safety or lacked transport. Fifty MPs turned up, enough for a quorum in the 88-seat house.

Elections are scheduled for next year, but some East Timorese blame Alkatiri for the turmoil and demand his fall.

Alkatiri oversaw the dismissal in March of 600 striking soldiers, who clashed with loyalist troops and fled to the hills. Rival gangs took to the streets in the absence of security forces.