By Mario de Queiroz
LISBON, Oct 26 2006 (IPS)

After centuries of Portuguese colonialism and more than two decades of military occupation by Indonesia, instability and violence continue to plague East Timor, one of the world’s newest and poorest nations.

Since East Timor won independence in May 2002, uncertainty has marked the future of this small former Portuguese island in the Indonesian archipelago, which suffered the greatest genocide of the 20th century in terms of proportion of population killed.

This year, violent clashes that peaked in June would appear to indicate that the long struggle for freedom has now turned into a fight for power.

Once again this week, rival groups of marauding youths have been fighting each other with knives, machetes and bows and arrows, setting fire to houses, and attacking foreign peacekeeping troops.

The 1,600-strong international peace contingent is mainly made up of Australians. In addition, 130 Portuguese soldiers and 20 police constitute a largely symbolic presence, in token of the two countries’ common history.

The disturbances, in which four people have been killed since Sunday, are interpreted by the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak, as a clear attempt at overthrowing the government headed by Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta, winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize.

One-third of East Timor’s 660,000 people – the population at the time- died as a result of the invasion and ongoing occupation.

In the past two days, the rioters have focused their aggression on Australian peacekeepers, after troops from that country shot tear gas Tuesday into an improvised refugee camp near the airport in Dili, the capital, injuring a child.

The Australian troops reportedly opened fire that day when a man approached them in a threatening manner.

The director of the Dili hospital, Antonio Calere, told Portuguese correspondents that four people had been killed and 47 injured so far this week. Two Portuguese soldiers and one Australian were among the injured.

The United Nations Office in Timor-Leste (UNOTIL) called for the replacement of Australian troops with United Nations police officers, led by Portuguese Commissioner Antero Lopes. The police force would include soldiers from Portugal, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

Commissioner Lopes told the Portuguese press that the violence on Wednesday reached the worst levels seen since June.

Ramos-Horta told IPS by telephone from Rome – where he is taking part in an international seminar and visiting the Vatican to invite Pope Benedict to come to East Timor – that “different groups in Timor are trying to manipulate the foreign military forces, alternately accusing the Portuguese and the Australians.”

“Members of a group that was ‘neutralised’ by the Australians accuse the Australians of supporting the other side, and members of a group ‘neutralised’ by the Portuguese accuse the Portuguese of favouring the other side. It’s a never-ending story,” added Ramos-Horta, who is defence chief as well as prime minister.

“The Australian, New Zealand, Malaysian and Portuguese forces went to East Timor at the request of the presidency, parliament and the government. In general, the troops have behaved in an exemplary manner. Incidents have occurred, but they have never been deliberate,” he said.

He also underlined the role played by the East Timorese armed forces commanded by Matan Ruak, “who have behaved with great dignity, courage and humility,” he said.

Ramos-Horta pointed out in the interview that the armed forces and Matan Ruak himself “presented public apologies” after the U.N. Independent Special Commission of Inquiry for Timor-Leste issued the results of its investigation this month.

“It is very rare for a military force anywhere in the world to show such integrity, courage and humility, an attitude that will help cure many wounds in our society,” he stated.

The independent U.N. commission was set up to investigate violent incidents that occurred in late April and triggered a crisis marked by strong divisions in the military, mainly made up of former guerrillas who fought the Indonesians, and the disintegration of the police force.

The clashes lasted several months, and peaked in June, when 40 people were killed and army Major Alfredo Reinado deserted with 20 men and holed up in the jungle, where he remains.

In late June, East Timor President José Alexandre Xanana Gusmão asked for the resignation of then prime minister Mari Alkatiri and then defence minister Roque Rodrigues, naming then foreign minister Ramos-Horta to both posts.

The reason given was alleged discrimination against the Loromunus ethnic group from the western part of the island by the Lorosae from the east.

The Loromunus complain that they are discriminated against by the Lorosae, who control the armed forces and police.

But analysts in Portugal and Australia say the problem is not ethnic in nature but economic. They point to the keen interest in the vast oil and natural gas reserves around East Timor, which has a territory of just 15,000 square km and a population of roughly one million.

Prior to the current ongoing crisis, “Timor was calm, peaceful, with surprisingly low rates of ordinary crime given the high poverty and unemployment levels and the frailty of the institutions of the state, especially the courts and the forces of law and order,” said Ramos-Horta.

Even today, the violence is localised, he said, mainly in Dili. “If you travel in the interior of the country, you will not see one single police or soldieràand those areas are completely peaceful.”

He acknowledged, however, that “the difficulties facing the country are enormous, and poverty is widespread.”

“We do not have a middle class in the real sense of the word, nor any significant private sector, and I say that because no country develops without a private sector and a middle class,” Ramos-Horta added.

“As everyone knows, this takes many years to develop. Sometimes people forget that we are only in our fourth year of independence,” he said.

In the view of the armed forces, the report by the independent U.N. commission will not suffice.

Matan Ruak said a parliamentary investigation commission should be set up “to guarantee a rapid return to peace.” The aim of the commission would be “to determine the objectives and strategies” of the violent groups “and identify the moral and intellectual authors behind the crisis – and, above all, to hold them accountable.”

In its report, the U.N. inquiry commission recommended that some 90 high-ranking officials and others be investigated and prosecuted by the Timorese justice system. The officials named included Rodrigues and Matan Ruak.

Ramos-Horta said it was “only natural” that the U.N. would call for further investigations, but added that “it is the responsibility of the attorney general to determine whether or not that is necessary.”

“For my part, I continue to have full confidence in Brigadier-General Taur Matan Ruak”, said Ramos-Horta, who is frequently described as a prudent, capable and discreet politician in a country where occupying the prime minister’s seat is like sitting on a powder keg.

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