[Kabar-indonesia] 8 Timor Updates: Gusmao Reconsiders; Thousands Throng Dili; Ramos-Horta Waits

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

8 East Timor Updates:

- E Timor President To Rethink Decision To 
  Resign - Bishop
- Thousands throng Dili to back E.Timor's 
  Gusmao in face-off with PM
- Lusa: East Timor: Anti-FRETILIN protestors 
  to seize parliament, says opposition chief
- Will East Timor's guerrilla hero continue to lead?
- Unloved East Timor PM: poised to step down?
- Ramos Horta waits in wings
- Resignation of ETimor PM will help resolve 
  crisis: observers
- Portugal voices concerns over East Timor crisis

E Timor President To Rethink Decision To Resign - Bishop

DILI, East Timor, June 23 (AP)--East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao is 
reconsidering his threat to resign if the country's embattled prime minister 
doesn't step down, a respected Roman Catholic Bishop said after meeting 
him Friday. 

Gusmao, a former guerrilla chief revered for his role in helping East Timor 
achieve independence from Indonesia in 1999, demanded Thursday that Prime 
Minister Mari Alkatiri be removed from office following last month's deadly street 
battles in the capital. 

He said he would resign if Alkatiri didn't step down by Friday morning, 
deepening the political crisis gripping East Timor and prompting thousands of 
anti-Alkatiri protesters to flock to Dili, raising the prospect of fresh unrest. 

But Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva told reporters after meeting with Gusmao 
that "the president has agreed to rethink his resignation." 

Da Silva, whose church holds great influence in this overwhelmingly Catholic 
country of 800,000 people, said a resolution to the political crisis was 
possible, but acknowledged: "It's not so easy." 

Many East Timorese say Alkatiri's decision to fire 600 disgruntled soldiers 
in March was to blame for street battles and gang warfare that left at least 30 
people dead and sent nearly 150,000 people fleeing from their homes. 

The violence was the worst to hit the tiny Asian nation since it voted for 
independence seven years ago, but has ebbed with the arrival of a 2,700-member 
Australian led peacekeeping force. 

Alkatiri refused to resign after winning the backing of his ruling Fretilin 
party. 

"I will not resign, at all," Alkatiri told the Portuguese news agency Lusa in 
a telephone interview. "The situation is so complicated that a hasty decision 
could further complicate things." 

Thousands of young protesters opposed to Alkatiri arrived in the capital of 
Dili throughout the night in scores of trucks, buses and vans, and set up camp 
early Friday at government headquarters. 

A few Australian soldiers kept the orderly crowd off the government grounds. 

Some reports said that Gusmao and Alkatiri would hold a meeting Friday 
morning, but officials from both camps said no such talks were planned. 

"I'm afraid it could become violent; more shooting and burning of houses," 
protest organizer Augusto Junior Tridade told The Associated Press. "With Gusmao 
going to resign, it's a very, very difficult situation now." 

Gusmao accused Fretilin of creating instability and ordered it to replace 
Alkatiri as its leader - although it was unclear what authority he had to make 
such a demand. "Fretilin's leaders want to kill democracy in East Timor," he 
said. 

"If the situation does not change by (Friday) morning, I will send an 
official letter of resignation to Parliament," Gusmao, said in an address to the 
nation Thursday. "I'm embarrassed about all the bad things the state has done to 
the people." 

Dueling political factions have sought to capitalize on recent violence, and 
some in East Timor have been accused of trying to stir more bloodshed for 
political gain. 

The prime minister's critics allege he formed and armed a hit squad to 
silence opponents, a claim he vehemently denies. 

However, the arrest Thursday of former Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato on 
charges of providing weapons to the self-proclaimed leader of a hit squad 
allegedly commissioned by Alkatiri added credibility to the claim. 

Lobato was charged with attempted revolution, conspiracy, providing state 
weapons to civilians, and association with criminals. He faces up to 15 years in 
prison if convicted. 

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Thousands back E.Timor's Gusmao in face-off with PM

By Lirio da Fonseca

DILI, June 23 (Reuters) - Thousands of demonstrators thronged East Timor's 
capital on Friday to support President Xanana Gusmao in his confrontation with 
the young nation's prime minister, who has refused the president's demand to 
step down.

In an impassioned speech late on Thursday after talks failed to persuade 
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri to quit, the popular Gusmao had said he would resign 
himself if Alkatiri did not take responsibility for weeks of arson attacks and 
killings.

That prompted several prominent East Timor leaders to visit the president on 
Friday and urge him to stay in office, while 2,000 young Gusmao supporters 
demonstrated in front of parliament and Alkatiri's office saying the prime 
minister should go.

They blame Alkatiri for weeks of violence marked by the deaths of least 20 
people and widespread looting. A degree of calm came after an international 
peacekeeping force spearheaded by Australian troops arrived in late May.

In his broadcast to the nation Thursday evening, Gusmao said if Alkatiri and 
his Fretilin party failed to take responsibility for the crisis, "I will send 
a letter to the national parliament to inform them that I will resign".

"I am ashamed of the bad deeds that the government is doing to the people," 
Gusmao said.

A spokesman from the prime minister's office said the speech, which he called 
"very vicious, very insulting, designed to provoke people", was seen by the 
Fretilin leadership as a ploy.

"What he really means is, he's appealing to the people to demand that he stay 
on as president and that they really destroy Fretilin," said the spokesman, 
who declined to be identified.

Alkatiri says he will not resign, and rejects the idea he is responsible for 
the violence, which started after he sacked 600 of the 1,400-strong army for 
mutiny when they protested about alleged discrimination against troops from the 
country's west.

Regional differences are just one of many issues complicating politics in 
tiny East Timor, with a land mass around that of the Bahamas and a population of 
about one million.

Other issues include resentment by those who stayed in the territory to fight 
Indonesia's decades-long occupation against those who spent that time in 
exile, including Alkatiri.

The prime minister has also clashed with East Timor's powerful Catholic 
church. Most recently he has been accused of arming civilians and links to a hit 
squad against his opponents.

DEMOCRATIC RESOLUTION

Australian Prime Minister John Howard told Australian television on Friday 
Gusmao and Alkatiri must resolve their differences according to East Timor's 
democratic processes.

"But Gusmao has been a galvanising leadership figure in the affairs of that 
country for a very long time and I find it very hard to believe that he won't 
remain at the centre of political events," Howard said.

A 2,500-strong international peacekeeping force led by Australian troops now 
patrols Dili, the capital.

Australian Broadcasting Corp.'s "Four Corners" television news programme 
reported on Monday that Alkatiri was present when then-Interior Minister Rogerio 
Lobato ordered an alleged hit squad linked to Fretilin to eliminate rivals.

Lobato has since resigned and been accused of trying to re-arm civilians. 
Alkatiri denies reports he was also involved.

In his Thursday meeting with Gusmao, the president said: "I have asked Mari 
Alkatiri whether he knows about the distribution of weapons to delegates from 
Fretilin and he has answered 'I don't know about it'."

"However, it seemed like he knew and he ordered Rogerio Lobato to take those 
weapons," the president said.

East Timor was a Portuguese colony for hundreds of years before a revolution 
in Lisbon in 1975 gave the territory a brief taste of independence. Indonesian 
troops invaded a few days later and Jakarta annexed East Timor in 1976.

After a 1999 vote for independence marked by violence blamed largely on 
pro-Jakarta militia with ties to the Indonesian army, an international peacekeeping 
force moved into the territory, ushering in a transitional period of U.N. 
administration before East Timor became a fully-fledged nation in 2002. (With 
additional reporting by Michael Perry in SYDNEY) 

AlertNet news is provided by   

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East Timor: Anti-FRETILIN protestors to seize parliament, 
says opposition chief

Lisbon, June 22 (Lusa) - East Timor's main opposition party says that a
group of protestors will attempt to occupy Dili's parliament and government
buildings Friday in a demonstration against the ruling FRETILIN party and in
support of President Xanana Gusmão.

Fernando Araújo, leader of the Democratic Party (PD), said:

"This is not a coup. The people only want to collect the keys and hand over
all legislative and executive power to the president".

The opposition chief told Lusa by phone that Friday's protest is not being
organized by any political party, but is rather a grassroots demonstration
in support of President Gusmão who has given Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri an
ultimatum to quit otherwise he himself will stand down.

Araújo told Lusa that dozens of trucks arrived in the Timorese capital
during Thursday bringing protestors for the attempted occupation of the new
nation's key official buildings.

Timorese are coming to Dili from all parts of the country, said Araújo, and
will occupy the official buildings to prevent Alkatiri and parliamentary
speaker Francisco Guterres, No. 2 leader of the ruling FRETILIN party,
attending Friday's session of the legislature.

President Gusmão has said he will tender his resignation to parliament
Friday if Alkatiri does not bow to his ultimatum to quit.

Araújo, accused last month by Alkatiri of instigating Timor's political and
security crisis in an attempt the bring down the government, also said
lawmakers from his party would formally resign from parliament on Friday.

The PD has eight MPs in the 88-seat legislature, to the 55 of the ruling
FRETILIN party, and is Timor's main opposition force.

Timor's oldest political party, the Timorese Democratic Union, said earlier
this week that its two MPs would suspend their participation in the national
legislature due to "lack of stability and security".

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Will East Timor's guerrilla hero continue to lead?

DILI, June 22 (AFP) -- East Timor President Xanana Gusmao, a hero of
the nation's bloody fight for independence, may have played his final
political card in threatening to hand in his resignation to parliament
on Friday.

Gusmao said Thursday he was so disgusted with his country's descent
into violent turmoil he would no longer remain as the country's
president unless Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri took responsibility for
it.

"Fretilin has to choose: ask Mari Alkatiri to take responsibility for
the major crisis, about the sacrifices of the state, the law and
democracy," he said in a lengthy address to the nation.

"Or, tomorrow, I will send a letter to parliament to inform them that
I will resign from being president of the republic because I am
ashamed of all the bad things that have happened, on behalf of the
state to its people."

Gusmao made his threat after asking Alkatiri to resign amid
allegations the premier assented to arm a hit squad tasked with
assassinating his rivals.

However Alkatiri, who Thursday received backing from leaders of his
Fretilin party, told Portugal's LUSA news agency he would not step
down.

East Timor became embroiled in violence last month as security forces
fought among themselves and the streets of the capital Dili were
rocked by gang warfare, leading to 21 deaths and forcing some 145,000
residents to flee.

Gusmao had tried to play the role of peacemaker.

"I ask you to calm down," he told a crowd recently. "Don't take up
your swords. Don't burn houses, don't make violence. We promise to
make national unity so things will come back to normal again."

Civilian groups and military rebels have been calling on the revered
and charismatic Gusmao, who turns 60 this year, to sack Alkatiri and
take control of the fledgling nation.

Publicly Gusmao has always insisted he was a reluctant president. Even
after his landslide election in 2002, three years after East Timor won
independence from Indonesia in a popular vote, he claimed not to want
the post.

"I always said I would like to be a pumpkin farmer. It is still my
dream," he said then. "I never ever wanted to be president. I still
don't want to be president. I'm hoping that in five years' time I can
serve you a big pumpkin."

As president Gusmao, who is married to Australian Kirsty Sword -- an
aid worker he met while in prison and with whom he has three young
children -- is largely consigned to a ceremonial role.

Just two months ago, the trim, bearded president told AFP he remained
a frustrated pumpkin farmer.

"I feel myself I'm still an ordinary person. The fact of being
president is only a duty, a job," he said.

Gusmao achieved legendary status among his men and ordinary East
Timorese when with few resources they battled Indonesia's occupying
military from rugged hills during the 24-year struggle.

His tactics of small-scale attacks across the territory stretched
Indonesia's military, and even after he was captured in 1992 the
poet-warrior continued to direct the resistance from behind bars in
Jakarta.

Gusmao has made it his policy to forgive and forget the injustices
meted out to the half-island under Indonesia's often brutal rule.

After his election in 2002, he told his war-weary and divided people:
"We must do our best to eradicate old sentiments of hatred and
revenge... otherwise we are living with the ghosts of the past."

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Unloved East Timor PM: poised to step down?

DILI, June 22, 2006 (AFP) -- East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri
is deeply unpopular due to his authoritarian tendencies and lack of
charisma but his political savvy allowed him to claw his way up to
lead the nation.

On Thursday, however, Alkatiri's future appeared uncertain after
President Xanana Gusmao wrote to him with an ultimatum: either step
down or face the prospect of being fired.

Alkatiri, a long-time exile who spent much of Indonesia's often brutal
24-year rule living in relative comfort in Mozambique, lost the
president's confidence after Gusmao saw an Australian documentary
purportedly showing evidence that the premier was involved in arming
hitmen to assassinate his opponents.

Much of Alkatiri's unpopularity stems from his out-of-touch style and
a common perception that he lacks empathy for the hardships the East
Timorese endured under Indonesian occupation.

He is also a Muslim and has Yemeni origins in a Roman Catholic country
where local ties and former colonial power Portugal remain major
influences.

"He still thinks it's 1975! He doesn't understand Timor has changed
since then," said Fernando Alves, a doctor who complained that
Alkatiri had not dealt not dealt with the violence which engulfed the
tiny country last month.

At least 21 people were killed and Dili descended into mayhem as
terrified residents fled in their thousands to the hills.

While Gusmao is revered as a national hero for leading East Timor's
guerrillas against the Indonesians, few East Timorese knew Alkatiri
when he was elected by the ruling Fretilin party to the prime
minister's post in 2002.

"If he had contested direct elections, he never would have been
elected as prime minister," Australian-based political analyst Bob
Lowry told AFP.

Alkatiri qualified as a surveying graduate in the former Portuguese
colony of Angola, and then studied law and economics in Mozambique.

He had launched his political career when he was appointed politics
minister by Fretilin shortly before Indonesia's 1975 invasion. He left
just a few days later but managed to stay influential in the party
while he was abroad.

His status within the party, combined with Gusmao's refusal to run as
a party candidate in East Timor's first elections after independence
in 2002, saw him rise to the post of prime minister.

Alkatiri has been criticised for his rigid ruling style and his
tendency to blame others for the country's woes.

"His political style is a mixture of post-Marxist Mozambique combined
with Suharto's Golkar," Joao Cancio Freitas, director of the Dili
Institute of Technology, told AFP, referring to the party of
Indonesia's former dictator.

Alkatiri's strong connections to Mozambique, Angola and China often
earn him the tag "communist" -- an insult in this deeply Catholic
nation.

"He's very arrogant. He seems like he does not care about the problems
of the people," Dili woman Umvelina said when asked about perceptions
of him.

When thousands of residents first fled the capital after a violent
demonstration on April 28, Alkatiri described the the mass exodus
dismissively as people just going on a "picnic".

Alkatiri's image problem had intensified when he sacked almost 600
soldiers in March after they complained about discrimination.

"There's a perception the government knew about the problems and could
have taken action to stop them much earlier," Father Guillermo Lebron
told AFP.

Despite the criticisms, some do point out that the 56-year-old's tough
bargaining style has allowed him to negotiate successfully with
powerful neighbor Australia over the Timor Gap oil and gas fields.

"I wouldn't portray him as an evil demon. I think he has done some
good things, such as the Timor Sea Gap" negotiations, said Lowry.

"He drove a hard bargain and got as good as could have been
expected... problem is he is too much of a one-man band and tried to
keep things too much in his own grip."

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Australian Financial Review
Friday, June 23, 2006

Ramos Horta waits in wings

John Kerin

East Timor's embattled Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, was increasingly
expected to quit his post last night to pave the way for Foreign
Minister Jose Ramos Horta to lead a transitional government and defuse
the political and security crisis.

Dr Alkatiri has been blamed for failing to deal with divisions in the
East Timorese defence force that led to riots and criminal gangs
rampaging in the capital, Dili, last month, leaving 30 people dead and
thousands homeless.

The pressure for Dr Alkatiri to stand aside has become almost
irresistible after it was revealed President Xanana Gusmao wrote to Dr
Alkatiri on Tuesday saying he had lost confidence in him following
allegations the Prime Minister had sanctioned the setting-up of a
personal hit squad to target opponents.

Dr Alkatiri has denied the claim.

ABC TV's Four Corners program earlier reported the allegations that Dr
Alkatiri ordered the squad to intimidate or even kill some political
rivals.

As the Prime Minister continued talks with the ruling Fretilin party,
which has traditionally been his power base in the parliament, to find
a way out of the impasse, his spokesman said he would resign if he
lost the support of the party.

A Fretilin official was quoted yesterday as claiming Dr Alkatiri had
lied about his role in the arms scandal, saying he now must go.

"He was involved in the distribution of arms. However, he lied to the
people, saying he was not involved," Vincente Ximenes said.

"We have asked the President to suspend him as Prime Minister and form
a transitional government while waiting for next year's election," Mr
Ximenes said.

East Timor's ambassador to Indonesia also predicted that Dr Alkatiri
would resign.

"The tendency towards that is very strong," Arlindo Marco said yesterday.

Separately, disgraced former interior minister Rogerio Lobato appeared
in a Dili court for the first time yesterday.

A court official said Mr Lobato, who faces weapons-supplying charges,
had corroborated earlier evidence that he and Dr Alkatiri had set up
the squad to eliminate opponents of the government.

If Dr Alkatiri did not step down during the night, the stand-off
between the Prime Minister and President was expected to come to a
head today when they were scheduled to meet.

Australia, Portugal, New Zealand and Malaysia have deployed 2600
troops to Dili to help restore order in the former Indonesian
province, which fought a bloody battle for independence from Indonesia
in 1999.

But the United Nations may take control of the mission as early as
October, enabling Australia to withdraw some of its 1900 ground
troops.

East Timor has urged the UN Security Council to back a 900-strong
multinational security force to maintain order in the lead-up to
elections planned for May next year.

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Resignation of ETimor PM will help resolve crisis: observers

SINGAPORE, June 22 (AFP) -- The resignation of East Timor's embattled
Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri would help resolve a violent crisis,
observers in the poverty-stricken nation said Thursday.

"I am 100 percent certain that if he resigns things will be peaceful,"
Leandro Isaac, an independent member of parliament who helped lead the
country's independence movement, told AFP from the East Timor capital,
Dili.

The fate of Alkatiri hung in the balance Thursday after President
Xanana Gusmao asked him to resign. Alkatiri's opponents and critics
have charged that he failed to prevent deadly unrest and was even
linked to the violence himself.

Alkatiri has repeatedly denied the allegations and his Fretilin party
rallied behind him Thursday.

Gusmao, much-loved by the East Timorese people, then said he himself
would submit his resignation to parliament on Friday if Alkatiri did
not assume responsibility for the crisis.

In remarks to Portugual's LUSA news agency, Alkatiri however refused
to step down, adding, "It would make things even more complicated."

Joaquim Fonseca, a veteran human rights activist in East Timor, told
AFP from Dili that Alkatiri's departure would help ease tension
following weeks of crisis.

"It will provide an environment whereby a durable solution can be
sought," said Fonseca, 36.

Alkatiri has been under pressure to step down since the country
plunged into violence a month ago, leading to the deaths of 21 people
and the arrival of more than 2,200 foreign peacekeepers to restore
calm.

Demanding on Tuesday that Alkatiri stand down, Gusmao cited an
Australian television documentary that purported to show evidence that
sacked interior minister Rogerio Lobato supplied weapons to a militia
unit tasked with assassinating Alkatiri's opponents, on the prime
minister's orders.

"He must take responsibility and be brought to court," said Isaac, 52.
He said the crisis was at its peak but the removal of Alkatiri would
bring resolution because "not more than 100" people were in league
with him and would be quickly rounded up following the prime
minister's dismissal.

Fonseca agreed that as the head of government Alkatiri should feel
responsible -- whether or not he was directly involved in distributing
weapons -- that guns belonging to state security forces ended up in
civilian hands.

"He controls all the resources that may be used to do anything, so if
he steps down it will at least allow the development of the situation
where people can at least build confidence again," Fonseca said.

The former Portuguese colony is experiencing its worst crisis since
independence in 2002 after a violent separation from Indonesian
occupiers.

The unrest erupted after Alkatiri in March sacked 600 soldiers who had
complained of discrimination, triggering battles among soldiers, and
between soldiers and police, that spiralled into gang warfare.

Isaac alleged a small group of Fretilin members including Alkatiri and
Lobato planned "to take back control of Falantil so it would be their
own armed force."

Falantil was the guerrilla force -- once led by Gusmao -- that fought
for 24 years against Indonesian occupation. It has since evolved into
independent East Timor's armed forces.

"They want to have full power, political as well as armed power,"
Isaac alleged of Alkatiri and his "Mozambique Group" who spent years
during East Timor's independence struggle abroad in the African
nation.

Fonseca said political differences between Alkatiri and Gusmao were
rooted in their divergent attitudes towards the country's liberation
struggle.

"Mari Alkatiri maintains that the independence has been obtained
through partisan struggle whereas Xanana's view is that the
independence is the result of the whole Timorese people."

Fonseca said Fretilin had not had an amicable relationship with other
political groups.

"I think there is that fear of political openness because this
government isn't really producing very much."

That attitude, he said, had made it hard for people to disbelieve the
allegations against Alkatiri.

Both Fonseca and Isaac alleged that a Fretilin party congress last
month -- at which Alkatari fought off a leadership challenge -- took
place in an atmosphere of intimidation.

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Portugal voices concerns over East Timor crisis

LISBON, June 22 (AFP) -- Portugal said Thursday it was "following with
preoccupation" the situation in East Timor, a former colony where
weeks of violence have led to a standoff between the president and
prime minister.

Pedro Silva Pereira, the minister of the presidency, said although
Lisbon was worried about the crisis it felt the situation was
"obviously an internal issue, and it would not be appropriate for a
foreign government to comment on it."

East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao said earlier Thursday he would
submit his resignation to parliament unless the prime minister, Mari
Alkatiri, took responsibility for the ongoing crisis, which saw
clashes between troops and police last month and the capital Dili
rocked by gang warfare.

Twenty-one people were killed in the violence, initially sparked by
the sacking by Alkatiri of 600 soldiers who had complained of
discrimination.

Gusmao demanded Alkatiri's resignation after allegations emerged the
prime minister had given the nod for his opponents to be killed.

Portuguese President Jose Socrates, speaking after a parliamentary
session, reaffirmed Lisbon's confidence in the Timorese government.

"The political institutions of East Timor will find a solution to the
political crisis," he told journalists.

Silva, the minister, said Portugal was "focused on the mission of the
GNR to help maintain order in the country", referring to 120
Portuguese Republican National Guard policemen who arrived earlier
this month to help enforce security.

More than 2,000 foreign peacekeepers, chiefly Australian, are already
deployed to quell unrest. GNR troopers served in East Timor during a
period of UN stewardship before the country's independence in 2002.

Portugal ruled East Timor for hundreds of years until Indonesia invaded in 
1975.

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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