Reinado increasingly isolated: Rerden

2nd March 2007, 10:32 WST

East Timor's most wanted man, Alfredo Reinado, is growing increasingly isolated and lacks the widespread support he thought he had, the commander of Australia's troops in the country says.

The tense stand-off between heavily armed Australian troops and Reinado is continuing at Same, south of Dili, as authorities maintained that the fugitive must surrender or face the consequences.

Australian soldiers earlier this week sealed off the village where Reinado and his band of rebels are holed up with a cache of automatic weapons and ammunition taken from police posts last weekend.

"The situation there is calm and under control," the head of the international stabilisation forces, Brigadier General Mal Rerden, said.

"There's been no significant incidents occur in and around Same in the last 12 hours or so."

He would not be drawn on whether Australia had decided on a request by the East Timor government to arrest the rebel leader, or how the day would likely unfold.

"These situations are sensitive.

"I won't try to predict what's going to happen today. We've got a very solid security plan to contain the situation and we will continue to do that."

He said reports Reinado had 150 supporters with him were "grossly overstated".

"It's very clear to us that he doesn't have the level of support that he thinks he does," Rerden said.

"There has not been movement of people from other towns or other parts of Timor.

"He, I think, is fairly isolated and doesn't have as big a support base as he thought."

He said Reinado had only one choice - to surrender or face the consequences.

"He has to surrender, submit himself to the justice process, hand in his weapons, and then he has some way of progressing his situation.

"He can put his case to the court and be heard on the things he thinks are important, but if he doesn't do that then he will be apprehended."

Asked if it was a life-or-death decision Reinado faced, Rerden replied: "That's for him to decide.

"He has a very clear choice and he has to accept the responsibility of that choice and the consequences of it whichever way he decides to go."

Rerden said the operation would continue "as long as necessary".

"There are many things that could happen and things that we will do to progress the situation," he said.

Reinado has insisted he would not surrender or hesitate to shoot any soldiers who stormed his refuge.

Late on Thursday, he warned Australia to "be very careful" when deciding on a formal request from East Timor's government to bring him in.

"If your soldiers die here, who will be responsible for it?" Reinado said.

"Just tell the Australian people to be very careful with this decision of the government, because if they do it wrong it will jeopardise the friendship of these two nations for a very long time, and I don't want that.

"If you bring all the forces and point guns at me I will shoot you."

There are fears any explosion in violence could derail East Timor's presidential elections, set for April 9.

Reinado is wanted for leading a band of breakaway soldiers last April and May, when battles between security factions degenerated into rampant gang violence in East Timor.

He has been on the run since leading a mass breakout from Dili's prison last August.

AAP