[Kabar-indonesia] Escaped Timor Rebel Makes TV Appearance [+SMH: Fears Fugitives May Join Forces]

[JoyoNews at aol.com]

4 updates: 

- Escaped Timor rebel makes television appearance

- SMH: Fragile peace may shatter if fugitive rebels 
  join forces

- The Australian: Dili refugee attacks raise tensions

- Too soon to lay blame for E Timor escape: Downer

Agence France-Presse
September 1, 2006

Escaped Timor rebel makes television appearance
 
The rebel East Timor military leader who escaped from jail earlier this week 
appeared on television and criticized the country's government.

Major Alfredo Reinado, whose escape triggered an ongoing manhunt in the 
capital Dili by UN police and international peacekeepers, said Prime Minister 
Jose Ramos-Horta's government lacked leadership.

"The current crisis occurs because the government has no capacity to lead 
and has no good politics," Reinado said in an interview aired by the state 
RTTL television and radio station.

There was no immediate response from the government.

Reinado did not say why he fled, but he appealed to Timorese gangs to stop 
feuding.

He and 56 other inmates escaped from a Dili prison on Wednesday.

East Timor's new UN police commissioner, Antero Lopes, said he believed he 
could hold talks with Reinado eventually leading to the rebel's unconditional 
surrender.

"It will not be necessary to capture him. I believe that he will come and 
establish dialogue," Lopes said, when asked to comment on Reinado's surprising 
television appearance.

"We don't think it will be necessary to use any force," Lopes told AFP.

Reinado was arrested last month on charges of weapons possession.

International troops discovered the rebel leader had nine handguns in his 
possession, despite promises from his group that they had surrendered all 
their weapons to Australian soldiers in June.

In May, Reinado led a group of 600 deserting troops and was accused of 
sparking civil unrest, including clashes among rival security forces and gang 
wars on the streets that killed 21 people.

The violence prompted the deployment of an Australian-led international 
peacekeeping force.

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Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Fragile peace may shatter if fugitive rebels join forces

by Lindsay Murdoch in Dili

photo: "I don't care if I die tomorrow" ... the rebel leader Alfredo Reinado 
in May, showing the XXX tattoo on the back of his neck. Brendan Esposito

AUSTRALIAN security forces hunting Alfredo Reinado, who led a mass escape 
from Dili's jail this week, should know he has XXX tattooed on the back of his 
neck.

Reinado likens himself to Xander Cage, the extreme athlete and fearless 
adrenaline junkie in the 2002 movie XXX. "I don't care if I die tomorrow," Reinado 
said after he fired the first shots in a bloody revolt that plunged East Timor 
into crisis in May.

Three months after those shots rang out on the hillside above the jail from 
which Reinado escaped on Wednesday, East Timor's political factions are 
plotting their next moves in a bitter power struggle that could erupt again into 
violence, a number of well-informed figures said in Dili this week.

The Prime Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, concedes wearily that the political 
problems that plunged the country into crisis in April, May and June are unsolved.

Speaking in his thatched villa overlooking Dili's harbour, he says it is 
still possible for the country to hold violence-free elections, due in April next 
year, but only through "strong international assistance and the role of the 
church and other leaders".

"Obviously, there is no guarantee," Mr Ramos Horta says.

Reinado's escape with 56 others came only days after Vincente da Concecao, a 
former guerilla fighter who likes to be called "Commander Railos", fled to the 
western mountains as the Office of Prosecutor-General was about to issue a 
warrant for his arrest for possession of illegal weapons.

Railos's allegation that he set up a hit squad to eliminate political 
opponents of the then prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, led to the latter being forced 
from office. The Opposition Leader, Mario Carrascalao, said the case of Railos, 
whom he knows well, had been mishandled by the Government: "Railos feels 
frustrated. He provided information to help solve the problem but they were going 
to arrest him."

The possibility that Reinado and Railos and their men could combine to form a 
renegade force is a nightmare for the commanders of foreign troops and police 
in Dili, who are struggling to control violence but cannot convince 70,000 
people in makeshift refugee camps that is safe for them to return to their homes.

Like Xander Cage, whose mission was to save the world, Reinado apparently 
wants to save East Timor. Within hours of his escape he was circulating a letter 
urging East Timorese to rise up in a people-power revolution.

His escape shattered the illusion that hundreds of foreign police and troops 
in Dili have brought peace to the tiny half-island nation of just over a 
million mostly impoverished people.

The UN Security Council has agreed to send to Dili 1608 international police, 
34 military liaison officers and about 500 civilian personnel, who will 
complement foreign troops already in Dili, including 1500 Australians.

But a Western analyst in Dili said the "foreigners are just keeping 
protagonists apart". The analyst added: "The bad blood, grudges and dirty politics are 
still there, just below the surface."

Fretilin, the ruling party, which has 55 of the 86 seats in the parliament, 
appears to be fracturing as the combative and unpopular Mr Alkatiri vows 
publicly to lead it to an "unimaginable" election victory.

Security forces fear a violent backlash from Mr Alkatiri's enemies if the 
Office of Prosecutor-General fails to charge him over Railos's allegations. They 
also fear a backlash from elements within Fretilin if Mr Alkatiri is charged.

"It's a no-win situation regarding Alkatiri," the analyst said.

A youth worker, Jose Sousa-Santos, said gangs of unemployed youths 
responsible for sporadic violence were being manipulated for political and criminal 
purposes. "The kids are a very buyable commodity," said Mr Sousa-Santos, who has 
worked with Dili's youths for six years. Two rival martial-arts gangs each have 
more than 30,000 members spread throughout the country.

Some former police, said to be manipulating the gangs, are believed to have 
high-powered weapons looted from the armoury of the 3200-strong police force 
that disintegrated during the violence in May.

An American doctor who has worked in Dili since 1998, Dan Murphy, warns that 
the health of people in the refugee camps is deteriorating. "The people tell 
me that this is their most worrying and depressing time since they gained their 
independence," Dr Murphy said.

Celestinho da Costa-Alves manages a refugee camp near Dili's main wharf, 
whose 2682 residents from the east of the country are often attacked by gangs from 
the west. "Every time our people leave and try to return to their homes they 
are attacked," Mr da Costa-Alves said. "The Government has told us to leave 
here because there has been trouble, but where are we to go?"

Since Mr Ramos Horta took office two months ago, he has shaken up the 
country's lethargic bureaucracy, telling officials that heads will roll unless they 
improve efficiency. Business people say that permits are suddenly being issued 
in hours, rather than days, containers are moving quickly off the wharf and 
corruption appears to have been curbed.

Mr Ramos Horta makes surprise visits to government offices, refugee camps, 
charities, UN and non-government-organisations. He has steered a $US315 million 
($412 million) budget through parliament, a record in a country where the 
annual income per capita is $US370 and 40 per cent of the population live in 
poverty.

He has emerged as the person many East Timorese see as their saviour at 
another terrible moment in their history, but he plays down a push from the US and 
some other countries for him to be the UN's next secretary-general, saying he 
feels committed to helping solve East Timor's problems.

"I would rather retire and take it easy on a beach somewhere," he says. "But 
it might be important for me to be here … I'm not saying that I am the best 
person, but I am one of the very, very few with the trust of the people."

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The Australian
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Dili refugee attacks raise tensions

by Mark Dodd 

EIGHT East Timorese refugees were injured yesterday by thugs using 
police-issue pistols and machetes in Dili, in an attack diplomats fear was designed to 
trigger a new wave of violence.

The attack, which left two of the wounded with life-threatening injuries, 
occurred at 1.30pm (2.30pm AEST) in a park just metres away from the five-star 
Dili Hotel in the city centre. 

Witnesses said up to four gunmen armed with police-issue Glock 9mm pistols 
and an FNC assault rifle opened fire without provocation. At least one of the 
assailants was said to have attacked the refugees, ethnic easterners, with a 
machete. Other refugees said the attackers were police from the western region of 
the country who supported army rebel Alfredo Reinado. 

Major Reinado, a central figure in the unrest that racked East Timor three 
months ago, led an escape by 57 prisoners from Dili's Becora jail on Wednesday. 

"This ratchets up the tension," said a Western security analyst based in 
Dili. "It's designed to scare the population - it's destabilising for the 
Government. I'm concerned about the claims they were police." 

Several hundred UN and Australian police, backed by an international military 
force, were last night continuing the manhunt for the escapees, who include 
pro-Jakarta militiamen jailed for 1999 war crimes. 

The Weekend Australian understands that East Timorese police have not been 
engaged to help in the search for the wanted men, ignoring a potentially vital 
source of local knowledge. 

Repeated requests for additional security to be based around the Becora 
prison were ignored, East Timorese interim Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta said 
yesterday. 

"I presume the Australian forces - as experts in security - thought it was 
not necessary, although we had asked repeatedly," Mr Ramos Horta told ABC radio. 

Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison said on Thursday that prison 
security was the sole responsibility of the East Timorese Government. 

But the UN mission in Dili has challenged that, saying "external security" 
around the jail was the responsibility of the international force - a veiled 
reference to the Australian Defence Force. 

Under the security arrangements in East Timor, the Becora prison falls within 
the New Zealand army's area of operations, although command responsibility 
ultimately rests with Australia, whose 1500-strong military force acts 
independently of the UN. 
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, due to arrive in Dili tomorrow for crisis 
talks, said yesterday he hoped the escapees were rounded up quickly. 

"Our concern is these people have been convicted or in some cases perhaps 
they have been charged and they're awaiting trial, and it does concern me they 
should escape in this way," Mr Downer told Adelaide radio. 

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd has condemned the Howard 
Government for wanting to cut back the military in Dili, saying the jail break 
underscored the fragile security in the country. 

The AFP has taken a prominent role in the hunt for the Becora escapees, with 
dozens of officers, including detectives, working round the clock, but they 
are handicapped by the lack of a radio room and operations centre to co-ordinate 
the search. 

Major Reinado was in the Becora prison awaiting trial. He was accused of 
attempted murder and possession of illegal weapons, charges stemming from his 
involvement in the unrest that led to the downfall of former East Timorese prime 
minister Mari Alkatiri. 

Major Reinado, a dual Australian-East Timorese citizen, was arrested on July 
25. He received training in military leadership in Canberra and his wife lives 
in Perth. 

A former military police commander, Major Reinado deserted from his unit on 
May 4 with 20 armed followers in sympathy with 600 army rebels angered by 
regional discrimination in the force.

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Australian Broadcasting Corporation
September 1, 2006

Too soon to lay blame for E Timor escape: Downer

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he will discuss security issues when 
he meets East Timor's Prime Minister on Monday.

Mr Downer says Australian troops are still working with East Timorese 
officials to track down 57 prisoners who escaped from Dili's jail.

East Timor's Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta has accused international forces 
of not providing enough security outside the jail, despite repeated requests 
to do so.

But Mr Downer says it is too soon to be laying blame.

"We should do two things," he said.

"One, we should round up the prisoners if we can and the second thing is to 
wait until we hear the conclusions of the investigation before we draw any hard 
and fast conclusions about who is responsible and how it all happened.

"I don't think we really know enough about it to assess [who is to blame]."

Shooting

Meanwhile, security remains fragile in the East Timorese capital.

Today there has been more violence.

In the latest incident, four people were shot at a camp for internally 
displaced people.

Mr Downer says he has been made aware of the shootings. 

"Last I heard was - and look, this was the latest assessment I have - that 
they were shot in Dili," he said. 

"There were four people that were shot and I understand two of them have been 
seriously injured and taken to hospital."

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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