Tiros em Santa Cruz ou Bemora

Explicações exigem-se, senhor Hasegawa.

ABC
mounts on Alkatiri to stand down

The World Today - Wednesday, 7 June , 2006 12:30:00
Reporter: Peter Cave

ELEANOR HALL: The UN's special Envoy to East Timor will leave Dili for New York in the coming hours, carrying a recommendation for the Security Council to approve a UN mandated police force for the country.

It caps a critical week for the UN in East Timor, where its senior diplomat in the country, Special Representative Sukehiro Hasegawa, has visited rebels to try to defuse the crisis.

He's told the ABC's Foreign Editor Peter Cave that the rebels won't come down from their hideouts unless Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri stands down.

And remarkably, Mr Hasegawa has also suggested the UN may be involved in a process for that to happen.

PETER CAVE: Mr Hasegawa, you have been with Mr Ramos Horta to see some of the soldiers who are still in the hills. What is the likelihood that they'll soon come in and surrender their weapons?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: Yes, I went to Gleno and Maubisse with the Foreign Minister Ramos Horta and I met Major Tarak Palasinyar (phonetic) in Gleno and also Alfredo Reinado in Maubisse.

They are very firm in maintaining their demand that the Prime Minister resign before they can enter into any negotiations for reconciliation. In other words, they are demanding that the Government be dissolved before they can start the reconciliation process that the President has been proposing.

PETER CAVE: Can that happen?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: I think in the long run this is possible, but I think the due course of fact finding, investigations and process of justice have to be carried out before that happens.

PETER CAVE: You think the Government can be dissolved?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: The Government is here, as the Prime Minister insists, based on Constitutional framework and that he insists that the Government has been formed through the electoral process that took place four years ago. Therefore, they are equally firm in insisting they have a legitimate right to remain in power.

PETER CAVE: So how do you think this could be resolved, sir?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: I think we have one joining point here. The Prime Minister, he spoke to me. He's agreeable to the investigations to be carried out over what happened in April and May. He's very transparent. He insists that the truth should be known, what happened.
And he's agreeable to the investigations to be carried out with the participation of the international investigators and the prosecutors.

PETER CAVE: And that process could lead to his impeachment, could it?

SUKEHIRO HASEGAWA: I think it depends on the findings of the investigation. I think we should not presume anything that may happen. I think justice should prevail, but more importantly, truth should be established.

ELEANOR HALL: That's the UN Special Representative to East Timor, Sukehiro Hasegawa talking to Foreign Editor Peter Cave. And Peter Cave joins us now in Dili.

And Peter, you've only just spoken to Mr Hasegawa. This is a major political development. What does it mean for Prime Minister Alkatiri's future?

PETER CAVE: Well, it means, basically, that he's going to have to face an investigation into these claims that are being made by the soldiers in the hills that he was behind the killings of several soldiers at a demonstration a month ago and also the massacre of 12 unarmed police under UN escort last month.

These are the claims being made by the soldiers in the hills. They say that the Prime Minister is directly responsible and as Mr Hasegawa said, the Prime Minister, Mr Alkatiri has agreed to a… an investigation by international investigators and international prosecutors.

ELEANOR HALL: And did Mr Hasegawa give you any indication of how Mr Alkatiri responded?

PETER CAVE: He said that he was very open, that he had agreed to this process taking place.

ELEANOR HALL: And presumably, Mr Hasegawa's also consulted the President?

PETER CAVE: Mr Hasegawa has had several meetings with the President in the last two days. This, I guess, has come out of talks he had with Mr Alkatiri this morning.

ELEANOR HALL: And have we got any indication yet on the timeframe on this?

PETER CAVE: There was no indication of a timeframe, although the Special Representative of Kofi Annan, Ian Martin, is on his way back to New York at the moment, and Mr Hasegawa told me that he expected that there would be a meeting of the UN Security Council within 24 hours to discuss those recommendations coming back with Mr Martin.

ELEANOR HALL: And, would Mr Alkatiri stand down whilst the investigation is ongoing?

PETER CAVE: I simply don't know. This is breaking news, this has happened… this is the first that this has been announced on our program. It's only come out in the last half hour and so far no one has had a chance to take it in.

ELEANOR HALL: Peter Cave in Dili, thank you.



Senhor Hasegawa, explique-se. Ou será que o senhor Peter Cave não mente?

Dos leitores

"Mas o Peter Cave agora passa de cavalo a burro? Não é ele o chefe do Bureau em Washington? Porque carga de água está a reportar de Dili? E alguém viu mesmo este Mr. Cave em Dili? "

Dos leitores

"está um carro sem matrícula estacionado em frente à Fundação Oriente, junto aos militares australianos, que parece o carro que desapareceu."

Procura-se veículo do protocolo do gabinete do PM

Desapareceu uma viatura Land Rover azul que pertence ao protocolo do gabinete do PM.

Quem será que a tem?

Máquina administrativa do Estado muito afectada pela crise

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - A máquina administrativa do Estado timorense está a ser muito afectada pela crise que afecta o país há semanas, com alguns minist ros a trabalharem em casa, disse hoje à Lusa a ministra Ana Pessoa.

A ministra de Estado e da Administração Estatal reconheceu que "os func ionários públicos estão naturalmente assustados com as casas queimadas e o estra ngulamento dos transportes, pelo que não podem vir trabalhar".

"A situação nos distritos é substancialmente diferente. As administraçõ es dos distritos e dos subdistritos está a trabalhar normalmente. A única excepç ão é Bobonaro [sudoeste de Díli, junto à fronteira com a Indonésia], porque no p assado sábado o [militar rebelde] major Alves Tara apareceu em Maliana, armado, e ameaçou as pessoas, que deixaram de trabalhar", acrescentou.

Ana Pessoa adiantou que no caso do seu Ministério, ordenou que fosse fe ito um levantamento das necessidades dos funcionários que perderam tudo com a de struição das suas casas.

Nas últimas semanas, vários departamentos oficiais, incluindo ministéri os, designadamente gabinetes de membros do governo, foram saqueados, o que aumen tou o receio por parte dos funcionários públicos em regressarem ao trabalho.

Estão neste caso os ministérios do Desenvolvimento, da Agricultura, Flo restas e Pescas, dos Recursos Naturais, Minerais e da Política Energética e o da Justiça, bem como o Tribunal de Recurso, a Procuradoria-Geral da República e o Quartel-General da Polícia Militar, além de armazéns do governo.

Para contornar as dificuldades, alguns ministros trabalham em casa, com o é o caso de Estanislau da Silva, ministro da Agricultura.

No caso do Ministério da Educação e da Cultura, está prevista para quin ta-feira uma reunião com os dirigentes máximos deste departamento para ser tomad a uma decisão final sobre a manutenção ou não do dia 19 de Junho como data dos e xames nacionais.

Há cerca de três semanas, em declarações à Lusa, Domingos Doutel Soares , chefe de gabinete do ministro da Educação, salientou que apesar de cerca de 40 por cento das escolas públicas do distrito de Díli não terem então normalizado a sua actividade, o calendário académico não seria alterado.

"O calendário académico não vai ser alterado, mas para quem não possa f azer a primeira chamada dos exames nacionais, marcados para 19 de Junho, existe ainda a possibilidade da segunda chamada, a realizar semanas depois", acrescento u então.

Timor-Leste possui cerca de 12 mil funcionários públicos, total a que i mporta depois acrescentar os militares, polícias e os quadros dos institutos púb licos.

…
EL.

Comunicado - PNUD/UNDP

DISTRICTS "HAVE NOT BEEN FORGOTTEN"
07 June, 2006/ Dili;

Vital supplies are reaching displaced people and communities throughout Timor-Leste. With the number of displaced people in the districts now estimated to be over 62,000, the emphasis is to deliver food and essential supplies as quickly and as broadly as possible.

"The government has been delivering food to the districts for the past 4-5 weeks." said Sandra Thompson, UNICEF adviser to the Ministry of Labour. "Some efforts were disrupted due to the recent security concerns, but there is a plan in action to continue to meet critical needs." she added.

Over the past few days, 75 tonnes of rice have reached the Ministry of Labour's regional office in Baucau. CVTL (Cruz Vermelha de Timor-Leste) and the District Administration offices will assist in distribution to the three eastern-most districts of Timor-Leste. In Baucau, Timor-Leste's second largest city, it is estimated that 15,000 displaced people have sought refuge. Approximately 2,200 of these are concentrated in about 5 camps in and around the city.

Food supplies have also reached all of the western districts, including people in small camps in Liquica and Ermera. "One of the next priorities is to assess non-food needs," commented Ms. Thompson. "The water and sanitation working group plans to provide people in camps outside of Dili with blankets, latrines, soap and hygiene awareness."

Yesterday the first shipment of supplies reached the island of Ata'uro, located some 23 nautical miles from Dili, across the Wetar straight. The shipment included food supplies and nutrition supplements for 1,500 IDPs and also for the island's population of 8,000 people. The shipment also delivered vital non-food items such as jerry cans, 3 tonnes of rice, oil, and sugar for the World Food Programme's school feeding programme.

One of the challenges facing assessment teams in the districts is that most of the displaced are living with relatives, said UNCDF's Jill Engen. "The majority of IDPs in the districts are living with their families," she commented. "This makes it difficult to assess their needs, since they are increasing pressure on existing family resources". This may cause people to experience shortages of food and of cash.

Chairman for the Inter-Agency Humanitarian Assistance Group, Minister Arsenio Bano emphasised that the districts are a priority. "We need to work closely with local authorities to assess the number of IDPs and to ensure we are reaching people in communities. Our core message right now to the people in the districts is to reassure them that they have not been forgotten."

SRSG Hasegawa commended the humanitarian efforts underway. "The coordination of the UN Agencies, funds and programmes and international and national NGO's led by the government has so far been very successful in averting a major humanitarian crisis." He said. "However, the needs of the population are great and there is much more that needs to be done in the coming months as Timor-Leste works to resolve the issues behind the current crisis."

An appeal for funding the emergency humanitarian relief activities will be launched in the coming days.

The Inter-Agency Humanitarian Assistance Group meets daily to assess the changing needs and coordinate the response. It comprises many agencies, led by the Government of Timor-Leste. These include WHO, UNICEF, IOM, UNHCR UNDP, UNFPA, WFP, Catholic Relief Service, CARE International, AUSTCARE, Red Cross, Oxfam Australia, Plan International, MSF, World Vision, and CONCERN. Many local organisations also participate, as do donors such as AusAid and USAID.
--ends

Kym Smithies
Communications Officer
UNDP Timor-Leste

Rebel leader amenable to talks on East Timor crisis

An East Timor rebel leader today said he was willing to hold talks on ending the troubled country’s wave of violence, but made clear that any solution should not include a role for the current prime minister.“We are trying to set up a good mechanism to conduct a dialogue in the near future,” said Alfredo Reinado, a former military police commander who met yesterday with defence minister Jose Ramos-Horta.

“For my part, I’m ready any time to sit at the table to find out who is wrong and correct the problem.”Reinado heads a group of former soldiers who were dismissed in March when they went on strike, and they are demanding the sacking of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri for overseeing their dismissal.

The group’s clashes with loyalist forces late last month gave way to gang warfare in the capital, Dili.

Australian foreign minister unveils plans for the colonial occupation of East Timor

Wed, 2006-06-07 12:25
By Peter Symonds – World Socialist Web Site

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer visited East Timor last weekend and laid out the broad outlines of Canberra’s plans to establish a long-term colonial-style occupation of the country. Downer arrived in Dili on Saturday amid continuing looting and violence by rival street gangs, despite the presence of an Australian-led force of more than 2,000 troops and police.

It is now clear that Canberra’s military intervention was aimed, not at ending the disorder in Dili, much less at assisting the estimated 100,000 displaced persons living in squalid camps.

Rather its purpose has been to enable the Howard government to dictate terms to East Timor’s leaders and preempt Australia’s Asian and European rivals, most notably the former colonial power, Portugal.

The continuing chaos in Dili is serving as a useful political lever to achieve these ends. While Downer was in Dili, Australian Justice Minister Chris Ellison was at the UN in New York pressing for agreement with an ongoing Australian-led operation, along the lines of Canberra’s takeover of the Solomon Islands in 2003.

Monday’s Sydney Morning Herald provided details of Downer’s three key proposals for a new UN mandate in East Timor. He argued firstly for “a large police force, comprising officers from a broad group of countries, preferably under an Australian commander.”

“Second, it [Canberra] wants a more capable UN role in helping the East Timorese with governance and administration. East Timor has a budget surplus yet scant investment in vital infrastructure, shoddy systems of administration and justice, and no serious economic activity beyond the oil sector,” the article explained.

Finally, Downer proposed that “a role for the UN in reconciliation of a shattered society”.
In effect, the Howard government is demanding control of East Timor’s administration via a large, permanent police presence, the installation of Australian officials in key positions of finance, justice and security, and the means for political manipulation via “reconciliation”.

Completely absent is any desperately-needed aid to provide basic services including welfare, education and health for the poverty-stricken country—one of the poorest in the world.
What “reconciliation” means is indicated by the ongoing efforts to oust Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri, regarded as too closely aligned with Portugal.

In less than a fortnight, Alkatiri has been compelled to cede substantial control over the country’s security forces to President Xanana Gusmao and has lost two close allies—the defence and interior ministers—who have been forced to resign.

While Downer declared on Saturday that he would not take sides in East Timor’s political conflict, Australia is obviously backing moves against Alkatiri. Yesterday, around 2,000 anti-Alkatiri demonstrators were shepherded into Dili by Australian troops to protest outside the current session of parliament and demand the sacking of the prime minister. At the same time, Major Alfredo Reinado, an anti-government “rebel leader”, who, in other circumstances would be treated as a renegade and terrorist, is being feted by Australian military commanders, officials and media as a political leader-in-waiting.

The hypocrisy and cynicism of the military intervention is highlighted by the abrupt reversal of the Australian government’s position on extending the UN mandate for East Timor. In early May, Washington and Canberra vigorously opposed calls from the East Timorese government and the UN special representative Sukehiro Hasegawa for a one-year extension of the UN Office for Timor-Leste (UNOTIL). UNOTIL had organised police, military and civilian advisers in all the areas outlined by Downer.

Both the Bush administration and the Howard government regarded UNOTIL as being too closely aligned with Alkatiri—and with Australia’s rivals in Portugal and elsewhere. With UNOTIL’s mandate due to expire on May 20, Washington and Canberra initially opposed any renewal, then, on May 12, reluctantly accepted a one-month extension.

On the same day, without informing Dili, Prime Minister Howard announced that Australian warships would be deployed to waters near East Timor, then boarded a plane for Washington. Less than a fortnight later, using the pretext of violence stirred up by figures such as Reinado, Australian troops began landing in Dili.

Now Downer is demanding a mandate for a long term UN presence—dominated by Australian officials and police. Not surprisingly, he has also called for the current UN representative Hasegawa to be replaced and has objected to Portuguese paramilitary police operating independently of Australian military command.

At a regional security conference last weekend, Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson called for Asian countries, including Singapore and South Korea, to contribute to the international force on East Timor—a transparent attempt to further dilute any Portuguese or European involvement.

A “weighter role” for Australia

While Downer was careful to use diplomatic language in Dili, Murdoch’s Australian has felt no such constraint. In his comment last Saturday entitled “A weightier role in Dili”, editor-at-large Paul Kelly drew attention to Downer’s plan, endorsed by cabinet’s National Security Committee, for “an Australian military-civilian strategy for East Timor’s future”. “This envisages that Australia will control military security in the short term through the Australia-led coalition that now exists and influence East Timor’s military structure in the long run. The aim is to minimise the influence of the UN or other nations, notably Portugal, on East Timor’s military structure,” he explained. The UN could be confined to “a stronger civilian role in East Timor’s governance, its civil service and its police.”

Kelly, who had clearly been briefed by the government, made no bones about the object of the exercise. “The lesson Australia has drawn from the intervention is that its security views cannot be marginalised any longer as they were ignored at the time of independence. The feature of East Timor’s brief history is that Portugal has exercised more influence than Australia, notably on its language, constitution and institutions. This is one of the reasons for its failure. It is obvious that as ultimate security guarantor, Australia must exert a greater authority,” he wrote.

Kelly’s call for Australia to become a regional hegemon was, however, quite restrained compared to what foreign editor Greg Sheridan penned on the same day. In his column entitled “Throw Troops at Pacific Failures”, he argued for a far broader and more aggressive Australian role, writing: “Australian policy in the South Pacific has been undergoing an agonising and profound revolution, from hands-off respect for South Pacific sovereignty to deepening involvement. But it may be that we still have not conceived of our involvement in the most useful strategic terms.”

Sheridan openly called for Canberra to use its power and influence to get rid of Alkatiri. “Certainly if Alkatiri remains Prime Minister of East Timor, this is a shocking indictment of Australian impotence. If you cannot translate the leverage of 1,300 troops, 50 police, hundreds of support personnel, buckets of aid and a critical international rescue mission into enough influence to get rid of a disastrous Marxist Prime Minister, then you are just not very skilled in the arts of influence, tutelage, sponsorship and, ultimately, promoting the national interest,” he declared.

Sheridan went on to outline his vision for the region, insisting: “It is perhaps time that Australian conceived of itself as the ‘US of the South Pacific’.” He attempted to blunt the sharp edge of his message by referring to America’s post war role in East Asia, but then continued: “Like the US in Asia, we should do this in part through a system of military deployments, though naturally we would not call them Australian bases... What I am arguing is that, as part of a wider program of assistance involving lots of Australian personnel operating in South Pacific government agencies, deployments of Australian soldiers should be semi-permanently stationed in East Timor, Solomon Islands and, if necessary, other regional basket cases.”

Sheridan is simply stating what the Howard government is actually doing. Having secured the backing of the Bush administration by extending unconditional support for the US military subjugation of Afghanistan and Iraq, Australian imperialism is aggressively carving out its own sphere of influence in the South Pacific. Its strategy involves, not just transforming “failed states” into dependent vassals, but setting the course for broader inter-imperialist conflicts throughout the region.

Líder militares rebeldes disponível para negociar fim do conflito

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - O líder dos militares que abandonaram a cadeia de comando das forças armadas timorenses, major Alfredo Reinado, afirmou hoje esta r disponível a pôr fim ao conflito, mas desde que haja negociações.

"O conflito pode acabar, mas tem que haver negociações. Eu estou sempre pronto para negociar com as três autoridades que podem resolver este conflito: o presidente Xanana, [o ministro da Defesa] Ramos Horta e a Igreja", afirmou o m ajor Reinado à Lusa.

"Quem mais for metido nessa negociação, isso já não é comigo", disse o militar rebelde, contactado telefonicamente a partir de Díli na sua base em Maub isse, a sul da capital.

Questionado sobre as suas condições para cessar o conflito, respondeu: "isso só depende de Xanana Gusmão".

O major Reinado também não afastou a possibilidade de regressar a Díli e reintegrar as forças armadas timorenses, mas condicionou a decisão às condiçõe s que lhe forem impostas pelo Presidente da República.

"Isso só depende das condições que me forem postas pelo presidente Xana na Gusmão, o meu comandante supremo", afirmou.

"Nós estamos sempre tranquilos, aqui não há nenhum problema, o problema está todo em Díli", acrescentou.

O major Reinado, que comandava a Polícia Militar timorense, abandonou a cadeia de comando das forças armadas no início de Maio, em protesto conta o env olvimento de militares na repressão de uma manifestação de cerca de 600 ex-solda dos excluídos do exército após protestos sobre alegada discriminação étnica.

Desde então, tem exigido a demissão do governo chefiado pelo líder da F RETILIN, Mari Alkatiri, a quem acusa de ter ordenado a intervenção do exército c ontra os ex-militares na manifestação de 28 de Abril, em Díli.
...

PR/PNG.
Lusa/Fim

Dos leitores

"Ola, nos gostava-mos de oferecer ao povo de Timor um ou mais Concertos ao vivo (Pop-Rock) da Banda Aguaforte de Carlos Batista.

Carlos Batista e um musico com longa exoeriencia musical, ex-membro deOs Atlanticos, uma Banda muito conhecida e reconhecida na Alemanha emuitos paises da Europa pelas comunidadas de lingua portuguesa.

O proprio Presidente de Timor sua Excl. Xanana Gusmao, ofereceu aoCarlos a Letra de um Tema que foi composto por Carlos Batista com otitulo "Oh Mar meu" e apresentado em Neuss na Alemanha num Concertodedicado a Timor, onde estiveram muitos convidados de honra.

Estamos a procurar Patrocinadores que possam ajudar a cobrir os custosde um ou mais Concertos em Timor.Podemos enviar CD-R com amostra do Programa de Aguaforte, se nosenviarem um Endereco para onde pode ser dirigido esse CD-R.

Muito obrigado pela atencao.
Por Aguaforte
Fernando R. Pinto"

Dos leitores

"antes do mais, aconselho a que leia a resposta da paula que se encontra nos comentarios à noticia posted às 15:19da minha parte gostaria de dizer o seguinte:

estava em Timor aquando das eleiçoes para a assembleia constituinte, tendo exercido o meu direito e dever de voto. tambem eu e muitos outros timorenses e internacionais nao concordamos com a transformaçao liquida de assembleia em parlamento.

se neste preciso momento se pretende explorar e esmiuçar todos os erros do passado (desde a comunidade ao proprio PM alkatiri) parece-me pouco razoavel, ainda nao é tempo.

sera, esperemos que brevemente.sem duvida, que o começo foi atribulado (graças em grande parte a erros crassos da UN e seus consultores, e lutas de interesses entre os paises doadores....

por mim e tantos outros presenciados) mas a questao que me parece mais importante nisto tudo, é que se tenham actuaçoes construtivas, que ajudem este povo a estabilizar e a assentar bases firmes para o seu futuro democratico.

se é importante que o PM nao caia devido a ameaças de um grupo armado, nao é apenas porque a constituiçao assim o nao permite, é acima de tudo porque criara um antecedente extremamente perigoso

nao podemos esquecer que esta é uma democracia que nasce.

sim, ha que ser vertical e nao vergar perante a violencia, nem ameaças"

Downer seeks Timor arrest change

From: AAP
By Steve Larkin
June 07, 2006

AUSTRALIA wants East Timor's Parliament to change its laws to allow foreign police to arrest arsonists and looters on the streets of Dili.

As Australia today committed a further $1 million for AusAid to buy food for the World Food Program in East Timor, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today he wanted Australian police numbers there to reach 200 "as soon as possible".

He also revealed that he believed some of the gangs responsible for the violence that has ravaged the capital for the past few weeks might have links to politicians.

"I can't prove it, but I have some concerns about that," Mr Downer said in Adelaide.

He said that, in addition to 1300 troops, Australia has 106 Australian Federal Police in East Timor, but the number would grow towards 200 by the deployment of state police officers.

Malaysia was also considering sending another 250 police and New Zealand an extra 30 or 40 officers.

But the foreign police are restrained in their efforts to stem the violence by East Timor's laws.
"It's not to say though that just by getting more police on the ground in East Timor that is automatically going to solve the problem," Mr Downer said.

"In order for day-to-day police work to be conducted by foreign police, there will almost certainly have to be a change in the law of East Timor.

"We're in discussions today with the East Timorese about how they can change the law ... they are going to have to change it through their parliament."

Mr Downer said the further food aid funding would help prevent a food shortage in East Timor.
"The idea is to ensure there are substantial supplies of food that can be distributed to the internally displaced people there," he said.

"It's not at the moment. There is a major problem with food shortages, it's that we are concerned that such a situation could arise in the not too distant future.

"It would be terrible if we let the situation arise where supplies just ran out."
Mr Downer urged East Timor's politicians to settle their differences peacefully.

"We have studiously tried to avoid taking sides whatever we might think privately," he said.

"It's one thing to have political differences and political disputes ... but the important thing is that these disputes are managed peacefully, constitutionally and not outside the rule of law."

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock confirmed other countries could become involved in Australia's peacekeeping mission in East Timor.

He said AFP commissioner Mick Keelty had been discussing with other countries as well as with the Australian states and territories the potential for their participation in peacekeeping in East Timor.

"But announcements will be made in relation to those matters when appropriate approvals have been obtained and the deployments have been formally agreed and are ready to be made," he said in Melbourne.

Relações com Xanana são "muito boas", Ramos-Horta "é ministro do meu governo" - Alkatiri

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - O primeiro-ministro timorense, Mari Alkatiri, garante que as relações pessoais e institucionais com o Presidente República, Xanana Gusmão, e com o ministro José Ramos-Horta "são boas" e que, sobretudo no plano institucional, "serão reforçadas".

Em entrevista à agência Lusa, o primeiro-ministro comentava as alegadas divergências entre as três mais relevantes figuras da governação em Timor-Leste, com consequências ao nível dos comportamentos populares, perspectivando também o período que se segue à crise político-militar e antecede as eleições legislativas marcadas para Abril de 2007.

Quanto ao Presidente da República, Alkatiri garante haver uma progressiva melhoria no relacionamento institucional e uma sólida relação pessoal, de que "ninguém pode ter dúvidas".
"Basta ver a forma como nos damos em público para perceber que as nossas relações pessoais são muito boas", afirmou, explicando que essa relação "deve ser transportada do plano pessoal também para o plano institucional".

"A nossa relação institucional está definida pela Constituição e, embora estejamos a viver um período de 30 dias de excepção" - marcado pela gestão presidencial em questões de defesa e de segurança - "vamos estreitar cada vez mais a solidariedade institucional, reforçando a coordenação, a cooperação e a confiança, mesmo depois de este período acabar", disse.

No que toca ao ministro da Defesa e dos Negócios Estrangeiros, José Ramos-Horta, o primeiro-ministro é ainda mais directo ao afirmar:
"é ministro de um governo dirigido por mim. Sobre isso, ponto final.

Se tem duas ou três faces, é ministro do meu Governo e isso define tudo no plano institucional".

PR/ASP.
Lusa/Fim

Oppose Australia’s neo-colonial occupation of East Timor

Statement by the Socialist Equality Party (Australia)1 June 2006

The Socialist Equality Party unequivocally opposes the Howard government’s military intervention into the tiny neighbouring state of East Timor. The dispatch of heavily-armed troops, backed by armoured vehicles, warships and attack helicopters, is a naked act of neo-colonial bullying and aggression aimed at protecting the economic and strategic interests of Australian imperialism in the Asia Pacific region.

...

Canberra has barely disguised the fact that it wants Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri replaced by someone more amenable to its interests. Australian Prime Minister Howard has publicly declared that East Timor “has not been well-governed”. An editorial in Murdoch’s Australian on May 30 demonised Alkatiri as unpopular, arrogant, corrupt and a Marxist, blamed him for the country’s factional infighting and violence, and bluntly called for a new prime minister to be installed.

Despite the fact that the Australian troops were nominally “invited” in by the Alkatiri government, Howard has refused to back it against armed rebels, under the fraudulent guise of “neutrality”. Behind the scenes, Australia has tacitly supported the efforts by East Timor’s President Xanana Gusmao to sideline Alkatiri by declaring “a state of siege” and attempting to assume full control of the security forces. As far as Canberra is concerned it is not a question of if, but when, Alkatiri will be replaced.

Alkatiri is certainly no Marxist. Nor does he represent the aspirations and interests of ordinary East Timorese any more than his rivals among the tiny ruling elite in Dili that has governed since formal independence in 2002. But in the eyes of the Australian government, Alkatiri’s cardinal sin is that he refused to immediately buckle to Canberra’s demands in negotiations over the Timor Sea’s huge oil and gas deposits. At the same time, he has been seeking economic and political support from other quarters, particularly the former colonial power, Portugal.

...

Canberra’s aim was both to prevent the intervention of other powers, especially Portugal, which was considering sending paramilitary police to assist the East Timor government, and to put pressure on a congress of the ruling Fretilin party from May 17 to 19, where a challenge was being mounted to the Alkatiri leadership.

...
Successive Australian governments, Coalition and Labor, backed Suharto’s takeover in 1975 and, in 1978, in exchange for control over the Timor Sea oil and gas, Australia became the first country in the world to officially recognise Indonesia’s annexation of East Timor. Even after the fall of Suharto in 1998, the Howard government continued to back Jakarta’s efforts to resist demands for a referendum in East Timor.

Canberra only switched tack when it became evident that Portugal, with the backing of the European Union, had secured UN support for a referendum. This opened up the real possibility that an “independent” East Timor, under Portuguese tutelage, would not recognise Australian rights to oil and gas under its Timor Gap Treaty with Jakarta.
...
While it hypocritically deplores the current factional violence, the Howard government is directly responsible for the political and social crisis in East Timor.
...
Last year, Canberra eventually bullied Dili into delaying any final settlement on the maritime boundary for 50 to 60 years and to a deal sharing out the oil and gas fields that greatly disadvantages East Timor. Known oil and gas reserves under the Timor Sea are estimated to be worth at least $US30 billion. Two thirds of the reserves lie closer to East Timor than Australia and by international law should belong to Dili.

Under the final deal, revenues from the largest field, Greater Sunrise, will be split 50-50, even though 80 percent should fall to East Timor. Even as the talks have dragged on, Canberra pocketed $1 billion royalties and taxes over six years from the Laminaria-Corallina field while Dili received nothing, although the area lies entirely in East Timorese waters—if international law were applied.

It is no surprise that acute social tensions exist in East Timor. They have been manipulated by unscrupulous leaders and produced clashes between “easterners” and “westerners”. Starved of aid and cheated out of oil and gas revenues, the East Timorese government has only been able to raise annual revenues of around $50 million, a sum that is completely inadequate to deal with any of the immense economic and social problems confronting the population. The eruption of gangs of unemployed youth on the streets of Dili, looting and carrying out vendettas against their rivals, is the outcome of the policies, not only of Gusmao, Horta and Alkatiri, but of Howard and his ministers.

Australia as regional hegemon

There are already signs that the Howard government is preparing to transform the present military intervention into a more permanent neo-colonial occupation of East Timor. The Australian media is speculating that troops will remain at least until next year’s election. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio on May 29 that without the Australian military intervention “East Timor does run the risk of becoming a failed state.”

In the wake of the 1999 invasion, Howard infamously suggested that Australia would function as the “deputy sheriff” for the US in the Asia Pacific area. Following outrage from regional leaders, he backed away from his remarks, but has never resiled from the underlying strategy: as a second or third-order power, Australia can only counter its rivals and protect its interests in the region with backing from the United States.
...
Within months of the Iraq invasion, the Howard government branded the Solomon Islands “a failed state”, wildly claiming it was becoming a haven for international criminals, drug runners and terrorists, and launched its own “preemptive” operation. In July 2003, an Australian-led taskforce of soldiers, police and officials landed in Honiara.
...
Just weeks before the latest East Timor intervention, the Howard government dispatched more than 300 soldiers and police to the Solomons to prop up RAMSI, amid growing local opposition and hostility to the Australian occupation.
While trying to maintain the illusion that Australia “respects” East Timor’s national sovereignty, Howard has already indicated that a RAMSI-style operation is under consideration. When asked on ABC television on May 28 about a similar long-term Australian presence in Dili, he said: “I do not rule anything out”.
...

Lost in Translation?! Hilariante... se não fossem tão vigaristas

ABC
Gusmao supporters demonstrate in Dili

PM - Tuesday, 6 June , 2006 18:21:28
Reporter: Peter Cave

MARK COLVIN: In East Timor, hundreds of protesters have driven from the country's western mountains to the capital Dili to declare their support for President Xanana Gusmao.

Late this afternoon they were given permission to demonstrate in the city's centre. Foreign Affairs Editor Peter Cave was there and I asked him to describe the scene while the protest was going on, a short while ago.

PETER CAVE: Well basically it's a parade, Mark, there are about 30 or 40 trucks, buses, dozens of motorbikes, being escorted by Malaysian and Australian APCs (armoured personnel carriers) through town. It's taken us about three quarters of an hour to get from the airport up through town. We just passed the Government offices, we've just passed Parliament, and just about the whole way there have been crowds lining the streets cheering the demonstrators on, yelling out "down with Alkatiri, viva Xanana Gusmao".

We've just turned around the Parliament building. We're heading back out through town at the moment. The only time there's looked like being any trouble is when we went through the notorious Comoro district, a few rocks were thrown, a bit of yelling, but that was about it.

MARK COLVIN: Yes, Peter, it was suggested in some quarters this was going to be a major headache for the Australian security forces, but it hasn't turned out that way?

PETER CAVE: No, basically just as I said. Just about everyone, almost 100 per cent of people, have been in support of this parade. They've been out cheering them on, they've been yelling out, as the people in the demonstration have, "down with the Prime Minister".

MARK COLVIN: And …

PETER CAVE: It's a very impressive show of people power, Mark.

MARK COLVIN: They're certainly making a fair bit of noise. While this hasn't actually been encouraged by Xanana Gusmao, it will be seen as very, very politically provocative, won't it?

PETER CAVE: Well, it's interesting, if you consider what was said by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri last week. He dismissively said that Ramos-Horta could only turn a few hundred demonstrators out. He could turn 10,000 or even 100,000 people out onto the street. So far Mr Alkatiri has turned not one single demonstrator out onto the street in his favour, and what's going on at the moment, as I said, is a very impressive show of people power in favour of Xanana Gusmao and against Dr Alkatiri.

MARK COLVIN: And tell me, is the fact that the rocks were thrown, the few rocks that were thrown, were in that very troublesome suburb of Comoro, is that an indication that that suburb is very pro-Alkatiri, or just that they like throwing rocks, I suppose?

PETER CAVE: No, it's been probably the centre of most of the troubles for the past two weeks. There is a village populated largely by people from the east, which is right alongside a village populated largely by people from the west.There've been beatings, there've been house burnings, there've been rock throwings, it's a very troubled area, and I think basically just a small group of easterners came out and tried it on. I mean, several hundred people jumped off the trucks and chased them before the troops, and there are a large number of troops out on the streets, not only in armoured personnel carriers as part of this parade, but lining the streets. But before the troops intervened, that small group of easterners, probably about 20 of them, had run away back into the area where they belong.

MARK COLVIN: So where to from here? Will this parade just end up dispersing and going home, or is there something bigger planned?

PETER CAVE: The agreement, before they came in they negotiated for almost an hour before they came in, was that they would parade through town, supported by the APCs, and then they would leave again. At the moment we've done a loop of town and it appears that we are heading out of town again.

MARK COLVIN: Peter Cave, speaking to me a short time ago, and it appears that that demonstration has now largely dispersed.

ONU estima 130 mil deslocados, "situação crítica" nos campos

Por António Sampaio, da Agência Lusa Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - A situação nos campos de deslocados dentro e fora de Díli está a tornar-se "crítica", quer do ponto de vista sanitário quer a nível de segurança, com a estimativa de que mais de 130 mil timorenses estão deslocados.

Responsáveis do governo timorense e de agências internacionais no terreno admitem que é urgente garantir a segurança nos campos - com relatos de confrontos, infiltração de armas e tensão - procurando melhorar as condições "paupérrimas e terríveis" em que os deslocados se encontram.

Dados divulgados hoje pelo governo timorense apontam para que entre 70 e 80 mil pessoas estejam nos campos de deslocados em Díli, com cerca de 62 mil em campos nos restantes distritos de Timor-Leste, números que continuam a aumentar.

Os deslocados fora de Díli são na sua maioria, residentes da capital que fugiram para distritos de onde eram naturais.

Responsáveis humanitários no Colégio Salesiano de D. Bosco, em Díli, confirmaram que só nos últimos três dias entraram mais duas mil pessoas, "esticando ainda mais os recursos já limitados no local".

"E os números vão continuar a aumentar porque as estruturas locais não funcionam", disse à Lusa um voluntário que está no local a trabalhar.

O ministro da Saúde timorense, Rui Araújo, alertou também hoje para as más condições nos 55 campos de deslocados que acolhem cerca de 80 mil pessoas, em Díli, constituindo factores de risco para uma epidemia de cólera.

Num intuito de colmatar a crise, chegou já a Díli um primeiro voo com coberturas plásticas, tendas e outro material de primeira necessidade, como explicou à Lusa Gregory Garras, do Alto Comissariado da ONU para os Refugiados.

Garras explicou que dada a "pressão sanitária", as "péssimas condições de vida" e o "clima de tensão" que se vive nos campos, as agências internacionais estão já a estudar ampliar os locais existentes ou criar novos espaços para acolher deslocados.

"Há que procurar desanuviar a situação nos campos existentes e procurar criar melhores condições para os deslocados", disse.

No entanto, explica Garras, é vital que a situação de segurança melhore, renovando apelos às forças internacionais no terreno para que ajudem a garantir a segurança nos campos, perante relatos de "confrontos" e "o aparecimento de divisões".

"Garantir a segurança nos campos é vital não apenas para as condições de vida das pessoas mas para o próprio clima político e de segurança em termos gerais", afirmou.

"Já pedimos auxilio às forças internacionais no terreno, mas percebemos as limitações de uma força militar quando este é um trabalho maioritariamente para a polícia", sublinhou.

O tema da segurança foi já considerada Sprioritário" pelo Alto-Comissário da ONU para os Refugiados, António Guterres, que segundo Garras "tem acompanhado a situação com grande interesse e a destacar o tema da segurança".

O responsável do ACNUR admite ser para já difícil determinar um calendário para a resolução da crise, afirmando que a tensão política e a insegurança em muitas zonas de Díli não ajudam ao regresso das populações às suas casas.

"Nota-se mais movimento nas ruas, durante o dia, mas alguns campos estão a receber mais pessoas diariamente.

Esperamos o melhor mas continuamos a planear para o pior", disse.

Lusa/Fim

Alkatiri queria eleições antecipadas mas diz não haver lei nem instituições

Por Paulo Rego e António Sampaio, da agência Lusa.

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - O primeiro-ministro timorense, Mari Alkatiri, afirmou hoje que já teria proposto eleições legislativas antecipadas para Timor-Leste se houvesse um quadro legal que permitisse a sua realização, dificultada também por problemas logísticos.

"Eu teria proposto eleições antecipadas. Se isto fosse um Estado com todas as instituições, com as leis eleitorais, seria o primeiro a propor eleições antecipadas", afirmou, numa entrevista à agência Lusa.

"Não posso fazer isso porque não existe lei, não existem as instituições. E mesmo se forem em Abril há já quem ponha em dúvida que consigamos organizar tudo até aí para realizar as eleições", sublinhou.

A proposta de lei eleitoral - trabalhada com base em ante-projectos elaborados por juristas portugueses - foi aprovada pelo governo no passado dia 27 Abril, estando ainda por agendar no Parlamento Nacional.

A proposta de lei prevê que o futuro parlamento de Timor-Leste terá apenas 65 deputados, eleitos por um círculo único nacional e que a conversão de votos em mandatos obedeça ao sistema de representação proporcional.

Sobre o seu papel no acto eleitoral, marcado para Abril de 2007, Mari Alkatiri apenas confirma que fará parte das listas de deputados: "O primeiro-ministro não se candidata, sai do partido vencedor. E a decisão será da Fretilin, mas para deputado serei naturalmente candidato.
Disso não tenho dúvidas".

A crise político-militar instalada em Timor-Leste, que levou ao pedido de ajuda a forças militares e policiais de Portugal, Austrália, Malásia e Nova Zelândia, é vista por Mari Alkatiri como o segundo acto de uma tentativa de derrube do seu Governo, iniciada em 2002.
"Tudo o que está a acontecer agora começou em Dezembro de 2002, mais ou menos com as mesmas reivindicações e com os mesmos grupos por detrás. O objectivo é realmente derrubar o Governo que foi eleito", afirmou.

"Tudo isto está a ser feito com esta agressividade, com esta violência, porque se quer evitar as eleições de 2007. Estavam convencidos que este Governo sofreria um desgaste terrível e que a Fretilin perderia as eleições em 2007", sublinhou.

"Mas as eleições dos chefes de suco, em 2004 e 2005, demonstraram o contrário. Num país como o nosso, ganhar eleições a nível comunitário é o indicativo claro de que o partido vai ganhar as eleições gerais", comentou o primeiro-ministro, número dois na hierarquia da Fretilin.

Mari Alkatiri rejeita liminarmente a hipótese de se demitir do cargo ou de o Presidente Xanana Gusmão dissolver o Parlamento.

"Se pedem agora um governo de transição para organizar as eleições, no futuro vão dizer sempre o mesmo.

O partido que ganhar as eleições, em vez de governar 5 anos, governa outra vez 3 ou 4 anos. Mas que país é este?", questionou.

A intenção dos seus opositores, argumenta Mari Alkatiri, é "ferir a imagem do governo", ganhando espaço para provarem o que valem antes do próximo acto eleitoral.

"Pensam eles que aparece um governo de transição, faz mais do que está a ser feito e prova que se fosse o governo da Fretilin não o teria feito. Pois se não fez em quatro anos como vai fazer num ano?", questionou.

A falta de investimento público e a recusa de endividamento externo é um dos argumentos mais utilizados pelos opositores da actual governação, num país com rendimento per capita inferior a 0,80 euros, com fortes carências ao nível das infra-estruturas e dos serviços estatais.

Mari Alkatiri reconhece agora a urgência em inverter a política de contenção.

"[Esta crise] Afastou bastante os potenciais investidores, por isso vamos aumentar muito o investimento público", frisou.

No documento com medidas políticas, sociais e económicas para a gestão da crise emitido na sequência da reunião do Conselho de Defesa e Segurança, liderado pelo Presidente Xanana Gusmão, e terça-feira avançado pela Lusa, há uma série de medidas previstas para a reconstrução do país.

O primeiro-ministro garante ter capacidade de resposta: "Reuni o gabinete de crise alargado para estudar o documento e tentar encontrar formas e mecanismos de execução do plano de acção. Penso que grande parte do que exige é possível executar".

"Em termos da reconstrução dos imóveis destruídos vai levar algum tempo. Não se pense que por milagre tudo renasce no dia seguinte. Agora, estamos determinados em avançar e vamos usar o dinheiro que temos não só para reconstruir, [vamos usá-lo] para construir bairros com melhor qualidade de vida para as populações", disse.

Lusa/Fim

PM Alkatiri acusa "sectores económicos" australianos e indonésios, saúda Portugal

Por António Sampaio e Paulo Rego, da agência Lusa.

Díli, Jun 07 (Lusa) - O primeiro-ministro timorense acusa "sectores conservadores" australianos e indonésios de estarem "por detrás" da crise político-militar em Timor-Leste, elogiando a atitude de "política correcta e de solidariedade mais uma vez demonstrada por Portugal".

Em entrevista à agência Lusa, o primeiro-ministro Mari Alkatiri, que admite ser o alvo a abater no contexto da luta interna, aponta também o dedo a interesses externos, ressalvando contudo o papel da diplomacia portuguesa.

A resposta vinda de Lisboa, diz, "foi muito positiva, num misto de posição política correcta e, mais uma vez, de grande solidariedade para com o povo de Timor-Leste".

"Posso dizer que ultrapassou as nossas próprias expectativas a resposta que Portugal deu ao nosso pedido. Esperemos que gestos como este venham marcar cada vez mais o reforço das relações, não só entre governos, não só entre as hierarquias do Estado, mas também fundamentalmente entre os dois povos", disse.

"Veja a grande expectativa e a alegria com que o povo recebeu a GNR. Isso demonstra que há uma esperança, há uma expectativa, há uma confiança também. E isso é muito positivo", concluiu Mari Alkatiri.

Quanto ao papel da Austrália, o primeiro país a chegar com ajuda militar externa, o primeiro-ministro timorense vinca não ter razões de queixa do Governo liderado por John Howard, mas assume inimizades com os "interesses económicos" que actuam no país vizinho.

Perante as expectativas geradas em torno da exploração de petróleo no Mar de Timor, da exploração do gás natural, e de interesses geoestratégicos regionais, nomeadamente ligados à segurança marítima, Mari Alkatiri aponta o dedo a "interesses, sobretudo económicos, que gostavam de ver outro primeiro-ministro" em Timor- Leste.

"Posso garantir que, talvez por me conhecerem bem, pressão em termos de me dizerem 'ou fazes isto ou nós fazemos aquilo`, nunca recebi. Pressão, no sentido de chantagem, nunca sofri", garantiu o governante.

"Agora, percebo que me faça essa pergunta porque há analistas internacionais a dizerem que tenho sido considerado um negociador muito duro dos litígios com os países vizinhos, particularmente com a Austrália. Quando se é primeiro-ministro e a última pessoa a decidir sobre o petróleo neste país, naturalmente está a colocar-se como alvo", esclareceu Mari Alkatiri.

"Reconheço que há uma certa antipatia por parte de alguns sectores australianos à minha pessoa. Não estou a dizer que (no governo australiano) gostem de mim ou que me achem simpático, mas também não posso, sem dados, dizer que a Austrália está por detrás disto, sem apresentar factos evidentes", esclareceu.

"O que eu tenho dito é que há sectores mais conservadores de alguns países que estão por detrás disto. Só assim é que se compreende que a imprensa australiana tenha sido tão militantemente contra a minha pessoa, deturpando e distorcendo tudo. Agora o governo australiano não. E o governo indonésio também não", concluiu Mari Alkatiri.

Alguma tensão diplomática entre Díli e Jacarta evidenciou-se esta semana após uma reportagem transmitida pelo principal canal televisivo de notícias na Indonésia, na qual Mari Alkatiri acusava "milícias" de estarem envolvidas no conflito.

Expressão essa que alegadamente se referia a grupos timorenses organizados mas que na região é conotada com as milícias indonésias que actuaram em Timor-Leste.

O comentário suscitou uma reacção do presidente indonésio, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono que lamentou as declarações de Mari Alkatiri, admitindo que "poderiam criar um novo problema entre os governos da Indonésia e de Timor-Leste".

Mari Alkatiri explica: "nunca disse nada em relação à Indonésia, embora andem por aí a dizer que eu acusei a Indonésia. Pura e simplesmente nunca fiz essa acusação nem sequer tenho razões para isso. Criou-se essa ideia através de uma reportagem da Metro TV e eu já tive que chamar o embaixador indonésio para lhe explicar que isso não era verdade".

Contudo, também na Indonésia Mari Alkatiri deixa no ar a existência de "sectores" interessados na sua destituição.

"Logo no dia 28 de Abril, a Metro TV deu eco a uma mentira grossa, dizendo que eu tinha fugido do Hotel Timor, deixando os sapatos na rua. A que propósito? Aliás, nem sequer estavam cá. A partir daí foram sempre fazendo notícias contra a minha figura. Há, realmente, sectores conservadores contra a minha pessoa".

Também a posição do Vaticano, que declarou confiança no Presidente Xanana Gusmão, foi mal recebida pelo líder do governo timorense, que tem um litígio assumido com a Igreja local, adensado no ano passado pela decisão de decretar o ensino laico nas escolas de Timor-Leste.

"Com a Igreja timorense já tive litígios muito evidentes no ano passado. Encontrou-se como solução um gabinete de trabalho que tem funcionado, talvez não plenamente, mas tem funcionado. Vou encontrar- me no dia 20 de Junho com os dois bispos timorenses (Ricardo e Basílio Nascimento) no sentido de se definir melhor esta parceria Estado- Igreja".

As relações entre Governo e Igreja não são boas, mas Alkatiri entende haver ainda espaço negocial para entendimentos.

"Sinto-me um pouco chocado quando vejo a alta hierarquia da Igreja a fazer política, olhando para uma minoria que luta contra mim e dizendo que o povo todo já não gosta do governo.

Agora, com a Igreja Católica em Timor-Leste o interesse do Governo é reforçar a parceria", garantiu.

Lusa/Fim

Mas que incompetência de negociadores...

ABC News Online - 7.06.2006

Alkatiri agrees to UN investigation

The United Nations representative in East Timor has backed an investigation process into the country's crisis that could lead to the Government being dissolved.

Sukehiro Hasegawa has met with rebel army commanders and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

The rebels are insisting that Dr Alkatiri should resign, while Dr Alkatiri's supporters say he still has a mandate.

Mr Hasegawa says Dr Alkatiri is willing to undergo an investigation that would include international investigators.

"He's agreeable to the investigations to carried out into what happened during April and May, he is very transparent and he insists that truth should be known," he told The World Today.
"He is agreeable for the investigations to be carried out with the participation of the international investigators and prosecutors."

Mr Hasegawa says the rebels will not come down from their hideouts unless Mr Alkatiri stands down.

"They are very firm in maintaining their demands that the Prime Minister resign before they can enter into any negotiations for reconciliation," he said.

"In other words they are demanding that the Government be dissolved before they start a reconciliation process."

Government legitimate

But Mr Hasegawa says the Mr Alkatiri believes the Government has a legitimate right to remain in power.

"Government is here, as the Prime Minister insists, based on a constitutional framework and that he insists that government has been formed through an electoral process that took place four years ago," he said.

"Therefore they are equally firm in insisting they have a legitimate right to remain in power.

"We should not presume anything that may happen, I think justice should prevail and the truth should come out."

The UN secretary-general's envoy, Ian Martin, will leave Dili for New York this afternoon carrying a recommendation for the Security Council to approve a UN-mandated police force for the country.

Rebel meeting

In another development, East Timor's Defence Minister, Jose Ramos Horta, has met with the self-styled leader of the rebel soldiers for talks on resolving the violence.

Dr Ramos-Horta met with Major Alfredo Reinaldo, who claims to command some 600 soldiers whose dismissal triggered the unrest, in the mountain town of Maubisse.

The Minister has also met with other representatives of the group with United Nations officials invited to observe the talks.

"The Minister left the meetings with a clear understanding of their intention to be involved in an all-inclusive dialogue to settle the political differences," the statement said.

Major Reinaldo has pledged his loyalty to President Xanana Gusmao and says he will disarm when asked to by an international peacekeeping force in East Timor.
...


Como é que após tantos encontros com rebeldes e desertores, estes últimos mantêm as suas exigências iniciais? Será que os negociadores ainda não lhes disseram que a demissáo do PM não está em cima da mesa das negociações?

Ian Martin antecipa reforço da presença internacional no país

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - O enviado especial das Nações Unidas a Timor-Lest e, Ian Martin, antecipou hoje um reforço da presença internacional no país, gara ntindo que a ONU vai estar "com Timor-Leste neste momento e no futuro".

Ian Martin destacou, em particular, que a Organização das Nações Unidas deverá "assumir um papel importante" no que toca à realização das eleições de 2 007, sendo essencial garantir um voto "livre e justo num clima de liberdade e pl uralismo".

"Esta crise chocou muitos de nós na comunidade internacional mas chocou ainda mais os timorenses. Pode e deve servir como um sinal de alarme", afirmou aos jornalistas, no final da sua deslocação a Timor-Leste.

"Os problemas essenciais não eram desconhecidos mas não foi feito o suf iciente para responder a isso. Daí que isto seja um despertar para a comunidade internacional e para os timorenses", explicou ainda.

Para Ian Martin, igualmente importantes são as lições que as próprias N ações Unidas possam tirar da situação em Timor-Leste, "olhando de forma crítica para o seu próprio papel".

"Há uma opinião de que as Nações Unidas tendem a abandonar zonas de con flito demasiado cedo. Mas agora há o compromisso da ONU ficar com Timor-Leste du rante esta crise", afirmou.
"Todos acreditam que haverá um papel maior das Nações Unidas do que era antecipado no Conselho de Segurança, antes desta crise", sublinhou.

Martin, enviado a Timor-Leste para "avaliar a situação no terreno" e fa zer o possível para "ajudar as várias partes a responder à crise actual", relemb rou que os timorenses já pagaram "um preço pesado pelo seu voto de independência ".

"É muito triste voltar a ver os edifícios a arder, as famílias deslocad as e pessoas a serem mortas", afirmou aos jornalistas, no final da sua deslocaçã o a Timor-Leste.

"Mas este não é o momento para desespero, mas sim para os líderes agire m unidos, para o povo timorense agir unido e para a comunidade internacional agi r unida", acentuou.

Ian Martin, que chefiou a missão da ONU responsável pelo referendo em q ue os timorenses escolheram a independência, em 1999, considerou que o passo mai s óbvio é a recuperação imediata da segurança, apelando à cooperação de todos, " particularmente no processo de recolha de armas".

Para o diplomata é igualmente fundamental lidar com "os temas essenciai s", relembrando que ele próprio, em 1999, nunca questionou "se os timorenses era m lorosaes ou loromonos".

"A recente exploração de pequenas diferenças deve ser ultrapassada", af irmou, considerando igualmente essencial lidar com "a divisão no seio de e entre as F-FDTL e a PNTL (Forças Armadas e Polícia de Timor-Leste)", garantindo em pa ralelo o relacionamento entre as instituições de Estado "para responder "ás caus as essenciais da crise".

"A restauração do sector da segurança será um aspecto crucial do futuro ", frisou, em conferência de imprensa no final da visita de 10 dias a Díli.

O enviado especial de Kofi Annan admitiu que para um país com quatro an os de existência, como Timor-Leste - e à semelhança do que acontece noutros esta dos emergentes - os primeiros anos de vida "atravessem problemas políticos signi ficativos".

Durante a sua visita a Timor-Leste, onde chegou no passado dia 29 de Ma io, Ian Martin manteve "discussões francas e longas" com os principais líderes d o país, entre eles o chefe de Estado, Xanana Gusmão, o primeiro-ministro, Mari A lkatiri, e vários membros do governo.

Manteve ainda contactos com o comandante das Forças Defesa de Timor-Les te (F-FTL), brigadeiro-general Taur Matan Ruak, com responsáveis de partidos pol íticos, da Igreja Católica e da sociedade civil, bem como com os rebeldes em Gle no e Maubisse.

Ian Martin reportará agora ao secretário-geral da ONU, Kofi Annan, ante s de um briefing ao Conselho de Segurança das Nações Unidas que está a analisar o modelo da futura missão da organização no país.
ASP.
Lusa/Fim

"Há riscos de epidemia de cólera" - Ministro da Saúde

Díli, 07 Jun (Lusa) - As más condições nos 55 campos de deslocados que acolhem cerca de 80 mil pessoas, somente no distrito de Díli, constituem factore s de risco para uma epidemia de cólera, alertou hoje em Díli o ministro da Saúde timorense.

Rui Araújo, que falava no final de uma cerimónia de entrega de medicame ntos oferecidos por Portugal a Timor-Leste, acrescentou que as autoridades sanit árias mantêm activo o sistema de vigilância em todos os campos, que contempla 17 postos de tratamento permanente e 23 clínicas móveis.

"Os factores de risco para aparecer uma epidemia estão aí. São as condi ções de habitação que não são muito favoráveis, bem como a higiene, o saneamento e a falta de água potável em vários campos. Portanto, os riscos neste momento p ara aparecer nomeadamente uma epidemia de cólera e surtos de diarreia estão aí", salientou.

"Mas do ponto de vista medicamentosa, o Serviço Nacional de Saúde está a fazer todos os possíveis e o Ministério da Saúde está a trabalhar com outras i nstituições para reduzir esses riscos, fazendo o possível para que esses campos tenham acesso a água potável e condições mínimas de tratamento e higiene", adian tou.

As doenças que têm aparecido nos campos são maioritariamente do aparelh o respiratório e os casos de diarreias estão a aumentar, mas sem ser numa propor ção em que se possa "dizer que se esteja perante uma situação de pré-epidemia".

Rui Araújo destacou ainda a contribuição que a brigada médica cubana, c omposta no total por 280 médicos e paramédicos, distribuídos por todo o país, e stá a dar na assistência à população.
A agência Lusa visitou um dos 17 postos de tratamento permanente, onde o paramédico cubano Tomás Perez informou tratar diariamente entre 80 a 100 pesso as.

Trata-se do posto que presta assistência às cerca de 1.200 pessoas que se encontram no Jardim dos Heróis, defronte do porto de Díli.

"Malária e doenças de pele são os casos mais numerosos neste posto. Faz emos turnos de 24 horas, e está sempre presente um médico e um paramédico", diss e.

Relativamente à oferta de medicamentos feita por Portugal a Timor-Leste , trata-se de um lote de 700 quilos, essencialmente de antibióticos, antidiarrei cos e sais de re-hidratação, enviados pelo Instituto Português de Apoio ao Desen volvimento (IPAD), na sequência do pedido do governo timorense a Portugal, e que viajou a bordo do avião que trouxe no passado dia 04 os efectivos da GNR para r eforço da manutenção da ordem pública em Díli.

Na cerimónia esteve presente o embaixador de Portugal em Díli, João Ram os Pinto.
EL.
Lusa/Fim

Govt officials go back to work in Dili despite unrest

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Dili

Several government offices resumed activities and a top minister met with rebel soldiers for reconciliation talks while renewed clashes between gangs continued to occur in Dili on Monday.
And for the first time since last month, the parliament convened to discuss conditions in the country.

Although many of government officials chose to stay home due to fears of violence, several civil servants, including several ministers and lawmakers returned to their office after Timor Leste's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri called on officials to go to work as usual.

The Jakarta Post observed Monday that President Xanana Gusmao, Foreign and Defense Affairs Minister Jose Ramos Horta, Health Minister Rui Maria de Araujo, Social and Manpower Minister Arsenio Bano and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri were at work as usual.

Associated Press reported that violence erupted again in parts of the capital, Dili, and foreign troops fired tear gas to break up clashes between rock-throwing gangs.

Men and boys rushed out of their nearby homes Sunday clutching knives, rocks, metal bars, slingshots and garden tools, looking for a fight with members of an approaching rival gang.
Similar clashes in recent days have left row upon row of small, cheerily painted stone houses looted, burned and abandoned in residential neighborhoods across Dili. More than half of the city's 150,000 residents have been driven out and live in dozens of cramped camps where they face food and water shortages.

At least 30 people have died and an estimated 100,000 have fled their homes in the last month. UN officials say displaced people are staying in some 50 camps, all but nine in Dili.
Meanwhile, Ramos Horta visited several rebel commanders Monday whose dismissal in March helped trigger the crisis.

"They had a good talk," ministry spokesman Chris Santos was quoted as saying by AP. He gave no details, citing the sensitivity of the situation.

Earlier, Parliament convened for the first time since fighting surged last month in Dili, although lawmakers said some colleagues did not attend because they feared for their safety or lacked transport. Fifty legislators turned up, enough for a quorum in the 88-seat house.

Speaker Francisco Guterres, a leader of the ruling Fretilin party, urged authorities to investigate the missing lawmakers' whereabouts, and shrugged off criticism that the government should quit.

"The parliament can only dissolve in the next general election, and not through demonstrations, which would set a bad example for this nation," Guterres was quoted as saying by AP.
Elections are scheduled for next year, but some Timor Leste people blame Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri for some of the turmoil and demand his ouster.

Alkatiri oversaw the dismissal in April 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.

Ramos Horta also became defense minister after an Alkatiri ally quit the post in an effort to defuse the crisis. The rebels he met Monday did not include the most prominent one, Alfredo Reinado, but Horta's office said the minister planned to visit him in the next day or two.
The goal of Monday's meeting was to explore "avenues for all-inclusive talks which will lead to a lasting resolution of the political issues," the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Despite the conciliatory comments, Timor Leste faces a difficult road ahead as it tries to heal deep divisions in the government and armed forces amid turmoil in the capital.

Não temos conhecimento de incidentes pela cidade

NZ Defence Minister to visit East Timor

Last Update: Wednesday, June 7, 2006. 8:35am (AEST)

New Zealand's Defence Minister Phil Goff will visit East Timor today to meet politicians and members of the New Zealand Defence force serving there.

Mr Goff's trip coincides with his country's decision to send another $1 million in aid to ease the humanitarian crisis.

There are currently about 160 New Zealand defence force personnel in Timor, including eight military police.

They are serving as peacekeepers as part of a 2,500-strong multinational force from Australia, Portugal and Malaysia.

Mr Goff says his visit is intended to give him a first-hand impression of the tasks the Defence Force is undertaking there, and what more needs to be done to restore security and stability.
Mr Goff says dealing with underlying causes including poverty and unemployment will be a critical task requiring a major international effort.

Peacekeepers left East Timor ‘too soon’

FT
By Shawn Donnan in Dili
Published: June 6 2006 22:25 Last updated: June 6 2006 22:25

The United Nations’ top official in East Timor said on Tuesday that the world body had reduced its presence in the country too quickly and ignored warnings from the ground that the tiny country’s security situation remained “fragile and fluid”.

“The Security Council was too optimistic,” Sukehiro Hasegawa, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special representative to East Timor, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

“It was the perception of the international community that everything was fine. And we said [from the ground] that the situation remained fragile and fluid. That it had not reached the stage where you could just leave it to the East Timorese.” The UN ended its administration of East Timor in 2002.

The comments came as pressure grew on Tuesday on Mari Alkatiri, prime minister, to resign as some 2,000 people from outlying districts descended on the capital, Dili, to demand his ousting. The protest was the largest since international peacekeepers arrived last month.

The show of force by Mr Alkatiri’s opponents highlighted what increasingly appears to be a stalemate in efforts to find a political solution to a crisis that has caused East Timor to descend into the worst violence seen since Indonesia’s bloody withdrawal in 1999.

In an emotional address, President Xanana Gusmao, a former rebel leader who is revered in East Timor, told the demonstration that he was still searching for a solution to what he called a “constitutional crisis”.

“My duty is to defend the people and that is not easy,” he said. “So I urge you to calm down and not create more trouble so one day our children can smile again.”

Jose Ramos-Horta, the country’s influential foreign and defence minister, said in an interview with the Financial Times yesterday that he had urged Mr Alkatiri to accept the creation of a national unity government.

Mr Ramos-Horta said he was willing to lead such a government until elections next year, although he insisted he had no interest in serving in the role beyond that.

But the Nobel laureate – who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for UN Secretary-General – said Mr Alkatiri had so far resisted the idea.

Diplomats said finding a political resolution was complicated by the fact that, while Mr Alkatiri’s resignation might ease the short-term crisis, it also risked setting a precedent for using violence to unseat Timorese leaders.

The latest crisis has also highlighted what experts say are the fragile institutions left behind by the UN-led nation-building experiment in East Timor, which was virtually burned to the ground by exiting Indonesian troops and pro-Jakarta militias in 1999.

Both Mr Hasegawa and Mr Ramos-Horta said East Timor was given independence too early and the move had contributed to the continuing weakness of many government institutions.

Mr Hasegawa said the UN, which administered the country between September 1999 and independence in May 2002, should have stayed on for “another two years”. Mr Ramos-Horta said he had urged the UN in 1999 to run the country for at least five years.

Mr Hasegawa, a veteran of UN missions in places such as Cambodia and Rwanda, has been in East Timor since 2002 and headed the mission since 2004. He said the UN’s work in East Timor was undermined for years by budget constraints.

The UN was due to shut its current mission on May 20 and put an election-focused operation in place instead.

The current crisis saw the mandate extended until June 20 and that is likely to be prolonged further, according to diplomats and UN officials.

They said a “more robust” mission would eventually have to take its place.

UN News

Annan’s Special Representative talks peace with another armed group in Timor-Leste
Sukehiro Hasegawa

6 June 2006 – For the second time in two days, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Timor-Leste, Sukehiro Hasegawa, flew to the west of the tiny Southeast Asian nation to try and end the unrest in the country, this time to meet the leader of another armed group that has demanded the resignation of the Prime Minister.

Mr. Hasegawa and Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta met with Major Alfredo Reinado, a former military police commander, in Maubisse, 25 kilometres southwest of the capital, said a United Nations official on the ground, adding that the Special Representative had told the Major that continued violence could bring further suffering to the people and that leaders could be held responsible.

After the trip Mr. Hasegawa met with President Xanana Gusmão in the presidential office, while outside a crowd from the western part of the country demanded the removal of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. The UN official said that Mr. Gusmão had asked them to return to their homes and said his priority was to re-stabilize the country so people will not live in fear.

On Monday, Mr. Hasegawa and Mr. Ramos-Horta flew to Gleno, west of the capital, to meet with a separate armed group also calling for the removal of the Prime Minister, where the Special Representative delivered a similar message on the consequences of continued violence, the UN official said.

Today the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Timor-Leste, Ian Martin, spent the last full day of his assessment mission meeting with police commanders and Timorese specialists in human rights, governance and anti-corruption, as well as with the Minister of the Interior. He leaves Wednesday for New York where he will report to the Secretary-General.

On the humanitarian front, UN agencies report that a new census shows a larger number of internally displaced persons than previously thought.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) today said that an assessment of eight districts outside the capital show some 49,000 persons have been displaced. The previous working figure was 30,000 for all 13 districts. The new figure is expected to climb, UN officials said.

The UN High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) has reported that its airlift of family tents, plastic sheets, and jerry cans has arrived in Dili and is to be moved out to camps set up to provide assistance to more than 100,000 displaced persons who have been uprooted in recent weeks through turmoil sparked by the dismissal of a third of the armed forces of the country that the UN shepherded to independence from Indonesia in 2002.

Dos leitores

"Bispo de Baucau apresenta projecto de solidariedade com Timor-Leste"

Ora aqui está um bom exemplo de quais são as funções da Igreja.

Dos leitores

A honra da Lusa só é afectada por em Timor alguns dos seus jornalistas serem profissionais longe do nível da agência noticiosa para a qual trabalham.

E não podemos esquecer que as noticias da Lusa, face ao prestigio que detem, servem de base a vários orgãos de comunicação social mundiais.

Se os factos noticiados são sensacionalistas e se abstêm de uma análise profunda pode levar à má informação, direcionada a servir "interesses", pressões e por consequência ser um factor acrescido de desestabilização.

E o que todos nós pretendemos é uma informação séria e responsável a bem do povo timorense.E

stamos todos de acordo não?!

Dos leitores

2000 people!!!.. is that all they could round up????

Considering the population of Timor Leste is approximately one million, this is only a small and insignificant group of peeople making these far fetched demands!

These "two thousand people" can have their say in the 2007 elections.... when we will see what the majouriyt of the population want!!!!

Acesso livre aos artigos sobre TL do jornal Público

Pedido a Malai Azul.

Seria possível divulgar a seguinte informação:

Após pedido de várias pessoas em Díli e em Portugal, foi apresentada proposta à Direcção do Jornal Público no sentido de disponibilizar os artigos publicados diariamente sobre Timor-Leste.

Isto é, permitir o seu acesso livre sem que houvesse restrições de assinatura.

A Direcção do Jornal Público aceitou de imediato a proposta e disponibiliza, a partir de hoje, 6 de Junho de 2006, os artigos, diariamente, no Blog: http://blogs.publico.pt/timor/

Obrigada
Paula

And, finally, these all need time, a lot of time.

ABS-CBN
Timor-Leste

CONTINUUM
By EDGARDO B. ESPIRITU

Timor-Leste’s experience provides many important lessons for the rest of the world. Perhaps chief among these is that a nation’s strength and permanence rest primarily on the unity and aspirations of its people, and also to a large extent on the existence of institutions and mechanisms that enables the nation’s wealth to serve the people’s needs.

East Timor, or Timor-Leste, is the world’s newest sovereign state, having been formed in August 1999 through a UN-supervised referendum in which the majority of the East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. Before being occupied by Indonesia in 1976, Timor-Leste was a colony of Portugal for about four centuries, which is why we Filipinos feel a special affinity with this fledgling nation, having been under Catholic colonizers ourselves for about the same length of time.

Timor-Leste is also this century’s first experiment in building a new nation, having gained its independence just at the turn of the new millennium. There have been many other new nations that have emerged toward the close of the last century, mostly in Central Asia and Eastern Europe, following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union. But Timor-Leste is closer to home and more familiar relative to our own experience here in Asia. It was a novel and significant experiment since it was sponsored by the entire international community, through the United Nations, which provided the peacekeeping forces, the experts and the transitional administrative infrastructure. It was supported financially by the world donor community, which poured in massive official development assistance totaling about US$ 2.2 billion from 1999-2002.

But now, six years from the nation’s birth, this great experiment is at the brink of collapse if no action, perhaps as massive and as decisive as that which attended its creation, is undertaken. The country is gripped by widespread anarchy and lawlessness—gang warfare and looting, violent clashes between mutinous soldiers and government troops, refugees crowding in makeshift camps and facing food and water shortages. The crisis has been traced to the government’s hard-line response to a strike called by disgruntled soldiers and to the growing rifts within the country’s leadership itself, as well as to the pervasive poverty and unemployment, which drove many to form and join the warring gangs.

The crisis has gone to a point where other countries within and outside the region have again found it necessary to come to Timor-Leste’s aid. About 2,000 peacekeeping troops from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia are now trying to help restore some order in the country, but this task is proving to be very difficult indeed. The Australian defense minister has called on other countries in Asia and the Pacific to help Timor-Leste to get through this crisis, warning that allowing it to become a failed state would adversely impact the rest of the region since it would then become a have for transnational crime, terrorism, and humanitarian disasters and injustice.

Timor-Leste’s experience provides many important lessons for the rest of the world. Perhaps chief among these is that a nation’s strength and permanence rest primarily on the unity and aspirations of its people, and also to a large extent on the existence of institutions and mechanisms that enables the nation’s wealth to serve the people’s needs. No amount of outside assistance would sustain a nation if its people do not see themselves yet as having a common identity and shared goals. True, Timor-Leste has its share of freedom fighters and patriots, who are now in positions of leadership in the country, but the common folk, by and large, have not yet formed a strong sense of nationhood.

With regard to the economy, although the country possesses certain natural gifts, such as oil and gas, these are still largely undeveloped. Moreover, this technology and capital-intensive industry has hardly helped in creating jobs for the large number of unemployed, which comprises about 50 percent of its labor force. There are no production facilities in the country itself and the gas is piped directly to Australia. The country is still agricultural with around a quarter of the GDP coming from agriculture and yet only around eight percent of the land is arable and is arid and of poor quality relative to its neighbors in the region. No wonder, around 42 percent of its people live under the poverty line.

The billions of dollars of foreign aid have not been enough to build sufficient physical, social, and institutional infrastructure to enable the country to face the myriad problems and meet the enormous needs of a newborn nation. External help and resources can only go so far. These are usually good for the initial efforts but can rarely be counted on for the very long haul. A graphic account of the situation, for instance, depicts Timorese farms where foreign-provided tractors lie broken and idle for lack of fuel and poor maintenance. The foreign experts and advisers also rarely stay and soon leave the country to poorly-trained and ill-prepared bureaucracy and administrators.

As a Timorese villager said of the foreign peacekeepers who now come to help them, "If they come, it’s OK. But then they leave, and it [the violence] starts again." This applies to other forms of assistance as well. The international community wanted to jumpstart the building of this new nation, to set it up as a model for other newly independent nations to emulate. But nation building really cannot be hurried. Besides financial and technical resources, more important, it needs the painstaking planting and nurturing of national pride and a true sense of independence, and of enhancing human capabilities.

Moreover, no outsider can impose or provide these to a people; although he can help, ultimately they have to find and work for these themselves.

And, finally, these all need time, a lot of time.

São duas e trinta e sete e parece tudo calmo dentro do género...

Dos leitores

Diz a Constituição da RDTL:

Artigo 112.º (Demissão do Governo)

1.Implicam a demissão do Governo:

a)O início da nova legislatura;

b)A aceitação pelo Presidente da República do pedido de demissão apresentado pelo Primeiro-Ministro;

c)A morte ou impossibilidade física permanente do Primeiro-Ministro;

d)A rejeição do programa do Governo pela segunda vez consecutiva;

e)A não aprovação de um voto de confiança;

f) A aprovação de uma moção de censura por uma maioria absoluta dos Deputados em efectividade de funções.

2. O Presidente da República só pode demitir o Primeiro-Ministro nos casos previstos no número anterior e quando se mostre necessário para assegurar o normal funcionamento das instituições democráticas, ouvido o Conselho de Estado.