Fresh violence breaks out in East Timor

Gangs hurled rocks at a camp housing refugees and torched buildings in East Timor’s capital today, as fresh violence erupted between supporters and opponents of former prime minister Mari Alkatiri.

Australian peacekeepers repulsed the attack by 100 young men on the camp, which houses tens of thousands of people who fled from clashes last month.

Sporadic shots were heard and 20 houses and at least four shops were torched elsewhere in Dili.

Alkatiri appeared on national television yesterday, one day after he resigned under pressure from street protesters and the country’s popular president, urging 2,000 supporters who gathered on Dili’s outskirts to descend on the city in coming days.

The outgoing leader, who will be summoned on Friday on allegations he formed political hit squads, accused his opponents of being behind two months of unrest that has left at least 30 people dead and sent nearly 150,000 people fleeing from their homes.

“They destroyed Dili town, burned, looted and killed our people, and then they accuse me of being a terrorist, communist and a killer,” he said in his first public comments since stepping down.

East Timor’s immediate political future, meanwhile, remained uncertain.

President Xanana Gusmao released a statement yesterday saying he would take “immediate steps toward forming a new government,” though another option was dissolving parliament and holding early elections.

Jose Ramos-Horta, the country’s Nobel prize-winning foreign minister and a long-time Gusmao friend, is seen as a possible candidate for the prime minister post. Minister of State Ana Pessoa, health minister Rui Maria Araujo, and East Timor’s ambassador to the United Nations, Jose Luis Guterres, are also contenders.

Though Alkatiri said he stepped down willingly to help restore order in his young nation, TV footage of his remarks rallied supporters and angered his opponents, who threw rocks at the national television station and burned down several homes of leaders of his ruling Fretilin party.

No injures were reported in the violence today, the worst to hit the tiny nation in several weeks, with members of a 2,700 foreign peacekeeping mission responding quickly to the flare-ups.

Australian and Portuguese police rushed to the scene of blazes and clashes and helicopters patrol overhead as sirens blared.

Many of the street fighters identified themselves as either coming from the east of the country, Alkatiri’s power base, or the west, where people are seen as supporters of Gusmao. It is also the home of many of the soldiers dismissed by the outgoing prime minister.

Some young men were also taking advantage of the chaos to settle old scores or express anger with the leaders of East Timor, which remains desperately poor seven years after winning independence from 24 years of Indonesian rule.

“Get out of Dili!” young men shouted as they drove past refugee camps housing mostly easterners, claiming there were weapons hidden inside.

Alkatiri was expected to appear before the prosecutor-general on Friday to address allegations that he hired hit squads to silence his political opponents - a move that was expected to further incense his supporters.

Alkatiri denies the accusations, but one of his close allies, former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato, is facing charges of allegedly arming civilian militias at his request.

Gusmao’s office said emergency powers would be extended for one month giving security forces the right to prevent large gatherings, search suspicious persons and confiscate weapons.