REPÚBLICA DEMOCRÁTICA DE TIMOR-LESTE
GABINETE DO PRIMEIRO-MINISTRO
PRESS RELEASE
GABINETE DO PRIMEIRO-MINISTRO
PRESS RELEASE
Re-hashed arms story rejected by Timor-Leste government
“One hard fact in today's reports in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald is that the company headed by Bader Alkatiri imported 257,000 rounds of ammunition at the end of 2004 for the police force,” said Mr Antoninho Bianco, Minister in the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Timor-Leste.
“The reports failed to include that this purchase was the result of an open tender, designed with the input of foreign advisers, conducted in a fully transparent manner,” said Minister Bianco.
“This ammunition purchase is not the basis for any scandalous allegation against anyone in my government,” he said.
The story is a re-hash of a report by Herald writer Mark Dodd from July 7, 2005. It includes another fact that seven high-powered F2000 automatic rifles were imported by a company led by Mr Filipe Sousa-Santos, under a contract let by the United Nations Administration, UNTAET.
Mr Santos-Sousa is part of the Carrascalau family, whose leading figure, Mario Carrascalau, is President of the six-member Opposition Social Democratic Party. The 30 armed members of the group led by Commander Reilos Vicente were interviewed on the night of June 8 by the ABC 4 Corners reporter Liz Jackson at Mr Carrascalau's villa outside Dili.
“This old story should not divert attention from the really important issue of identifying who distributed arms to civilians in the week of May 22 or before that,” said the Minister Bianco.
“Our government is fully involved in supporting this investigation”.
The SMH and Age stories seek to link the import of the ammunition to unsubstantiated reports that the resigned Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato secretly imported and distributed arms to civilians such as the Reilos group, which is now reported to be 20 armed people located at Liquica, on the coast west of Dili.
This tenuous linkage is then used to suggest that the Prime Minister should be investigated and then dismissed by the President.
On June 14, President Xanana Gusmao declared to the Parliament that he would always uphold the Constitution, which does not allow him to dismiss the Prime Minister unless the Parliament itself declares a State of Emergency.
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7 comentários:
"This tenuous linkage is then used to suggest that the Prime Minister should be investigated and then dismissed by the President."
Se a investigacao provar a responsabilidade criminal do PM sera o sistema judicial que devera lidar com a acusacao contra o PM o que resultara na imediata suspensao das suas funcoes como manda o artigo 113 da Constituicao.
O Presidente ja nao tera que fazer nada por estar fora da sua esfera de actuacao. Sera isto tao dificil de comprender?
OH! Antoninho Bianco, o melhor para ti é estares calado... Quanto mais falares muito o povinho sabe captar o contrario do que voce esta a dizer. Porque o povo timerense ja tirou o seu mestrado na analise da situçao durante 24 anos da ocupaçao da Indonesia. Eram assim que os "Bapas" falaram ao povo timorense durante 24 anos...
De maneira que, aconcelho ao Sr. Antoninho Bianco de estar calado...
não! não é difícil de compreender, mas vai-se investigar o quê? e porquê?
Levar uma investigação para a frente com base na treta de duas reportagens? onde numa delas se vai ao ponto de se noticiar a existência de uma mensagem sms com o remetente do antigo Ministro do Interior?
Tretas dessas qualquer criança sabe fazer, parece-nos sim, que as reportagens indicíam a existência de pouco respeito pela ética profissional por parte dos seus autores.
Tradução:
REPÚBLICA DEMOCRÁTICA DE TIMOR-LESTE
GABINETE DO PRIMEIRO-MINISTRO
PRESS RELEASE
O Governo de Timor-Leste rejeita história retomada de armas
“Um dos factos da reportagem de hoje no The Age e no Sydney Morning Herald é que a empresa liderada por Bader Alkatiri importou 257,000 rounds de munições no final de 2004 para as forças da polícia,” disse Mr Antoninho Bianco, Ministro da Presidência do Conselho de Ministros de Timor-Leste.
“A reportagem omitiu que esta compra foi o resultado de um concurso público, delineado com o apoio de conselheiros estrangeiros, conduzido de modo totalmente transparente,” disse o Ministro Bianco.
“Esta compra de munições não é a base para qualquer alegação escandalosa contra ninguém no meu governo,” disse.
A história é uma retoma de uma reportagem do escritor do Herald, Mark Dodd, de Julho 7, 2005. Inclui outro facto, que sete espingardas automáticas de alto-poder F2000 foram importadas por uma companhia dirigida pelo Sr. Filipe Sousa-Santos, sob um contrato autorizado pela Administração das Nações Unidas, UNTAET.
Mr Santos-Sousa pertence à família Carrascalão, cuja figura liderante, Mário Carrascalão, é o Presidente do Partido Social Democrata que tem seis membros na Oposição. Os 30 membros armadas do grupo dirigido pelo Comandante Reilos Vicente foram entrevistados na noite de 8 de Junho pela repórter da ABC 4 Corners, Liz Jackson, na casa do Sr. Carrascalão, fora de Dili.
“Esta velha história não deve desviar a atenção da questão realmente importante de identificar quem distribuiu armas aos civis na semana de 22 de Maio ou antes disso”, disse o Ministro Bianco.
“O nosso governo está completamente envolvido no apoio a esta investigação”.
As histórias do SMH e do Age procuram ligar a importação de munições a reportagens sem fundamento de o Ministro Rogério Lobato, que se demitiu, ter secretamente importado e distribuído armas a civis, como aos do grupo de Reilo, do qual é agora relatado ter 20 pessoas armadas, estacionadas em Liquica, na costa oeste de Dili.
Esta ligação ténue é então usada para sugerir que o Primeiro Ministro deve ser investigado e depois demitido pelo Presidente.
Em 14 de Junho, o Presidente Xanana Gusmão declarou ao Parlamento que sempre suportaria a Constituição, que não lhe permite demitir o Primeiro Ministro a não ser que o próprio Parlamento declare o Estado de Emergência.
Dear all,
How about this one.... just take a look at this...
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Timor minister equipped police as private army
(sydney morning herald)
NEW details have emerged about an East Timorese Government minister's efforts to turn police into a private army for the ruling Fretilin party and arm civilian hit squads to cow voters and rivals before next year's elections.
The former interior minister, Rogerio Lobato, arranged to secretly import high-powered weapons for the East Timor National Police, who are responsible to the Interior Ministry, on a visit to Kuwait with the Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, about two years ago, the Herald has been told. "These were not police weapons. This was serious military hardware," a well-placed source said.
The Herald has also been given a copy of an invoice showing Mr Lobato imported a massive quantity of ammunition for assault rifles at the end of 2004. A group of about 30 men in the coastal town of Liquica have displayed about 20 automatic assault rifles of the sort held by police, claiming they were supplied the weapons by Mr Lobato and Mr Alkatiri to intimidate and kill Fretilin's political rivals.
In a move that might lead to Mr Alkatiri's dismissal under constitutional emergency powers, the President, Xanana Gusmao, is sending a key ally, the Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, to Liquica today to meet Reilos Vicente, the leader of the armed group.
Mr Ramos Horta said yesterday evidence of arms distribution - "that might breach the very principles enshrined in our constitution" - could induce the President to open an inquiry against ministers.
"What is important is, we try to collect the weapons, disarming people who are carrying them through dialogue, then we move to the next step, find out who gave weapons to them," Mr Ramos Horta said. If Mr Alkatiri is cited, this would almost certainly force him to resign or step aside from his office.
East Timor observers believe Mr Lobato was preparing a show of force to intimidate voters in April's parliamentary elections, against a background of disappointment with the Government's failure to deliver the prosperity many expected after independence. Mr Lobato was dismissed three weeks ago at the height of the country's security crisis but
remains powerful as Fretilin's deputy party chief.
The ammunition order shown to the Herald will firm suspicions that Mr Lobato was trying to build the 3500-member police force as a counter to the 1800-member army. The army was built on the guerilla force Falintil, which fought the Indonesians and which Mr Gusmao, its former leader, detached from Fretilin.
The invoice, made in December 2004, shows Mr Lobato approved the $US107,940 purchase of 257,000 rounds of 5.56mm assault rifle ammunition from Cavalo Bravo, a company owned and run by Bader Alkatiri, a brother of the Prime Minister. A certificate of registration for Cavalo Bravo shows it was set up to import military and police equipment, including heavy and light arms, munitions, grenades, tanks, helicopters, boats and supplies.
Bader Alkatiri said Cavalo Bravo was not a monopoly, but mainly focused on military supplies. "But I didn't import weapons, only ammunition," he said.
Mr Lobato's efforts to build police firepower started as the former United Nations interim administration handed over to the Fretilin government at independence in May 2002.
Filipe Sousa-Santos, then representing a Danish trading firm, was involved in a UN-authorised importation of a small number of automatic weapons from the Belgian arms manufacturer FN Herstal. The order comprised 129 portable light machine-guns for the army, plus 64 FNC assault rifles and seven F-2000 automatic rifles for the police.
The police imported 3500 to 4000 Glock pistols as sidearms, and were given 200 Steyr automatic rifles by Malaysia.
It was the F-2000 guns that raised eyebrows. The most powerful weapon of its size, it has a high rate of fire and good accuracy. "This is what you would want to have if you were going to give the army a go," Mr Sousa-Santos said.
The order was vetted by Australian and American intelligence agents, and queried by Belgium, but allowed when the police said the weapons would be used to patrol the then tense Indonesian border, a police responsibility.
"Then FN Herstal started to see the weapons were not being used for what they were supposed to," Mr Sousa-Santos said. "People started to see them in the hands of ministerial bodyguards and the rapid reaction police unit."
Other reports say the police gained 20 of the F-2000s, but Mr Sousa-Santos believes these could only have come second-hand from other governments, as his firm retained exclusive rights with FN Herstal.
An Australian Federal Police official said yesterday 509 firearms had been collected from civilians since peacekeepers began arriving on May 25, but it was not clear how many more there were.
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Guys, what do you think? Is there anything touches you???
There is absolutely no doubt that the PM has been busy securing the means by which to realise his plan to keep a strong grip in power and at the very same time enrich hinself through his family while keeping his closest supporters happy by allowing them to take nibbles at the pie.
This is nothing new as it has been happening throughout other countries in africa where he spent all of those years in exile.
The diference here is that it has not taken long for his eminent demise. This augers well for Timor-Leste as it embarks in it journey to a trully democratic estate.
It's usually said that authoritarian regimes don't last for ever, but here in Timor-Leste it doesn't last long at all.
people are politicising the latest crisis to befall east timor. these people include, shamefully, the east timorese political and social elite, many of whom spent their time in the diaspora only to return to east timor thanks to fat UN contract$$$. let it be known in portuguese colonial era, this section of timorese social and political elite also made up the core of the assimilado elite. the nature which led to their exile from east timor is best explained in terms of economic rather than political. the least these people can do is to contribute to a peaceful outcome rather than making inflamatory comments. an international investigation is currently underway. this investigation should be afforded all opportunity to make its findings and present its results.
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