Mark Dodd, Dili – East Timor's most wanted man, Australian-trained army rebel Alfredo Reinado, appealed yesterday for international forces in the country not to treat him as a criminal.

Major Reinado, who is believed to be hiding somewhere in the south of East Timor, said he was continually on the move and had no immediate intention of turning himself in.

"I hear the international police and Australian forces are asking me to hand myself in. I cannot do that – there is no justice in East Timor, laws in the country don't function, they don't exist," he told The Weekend Australian by telephone.

Major Reinado, 39, who has been on the run since breaking out of Becora jail in Dili with 56 other inmates on August 30, accused the East Timor Government of being disloyal to the people.

The UN-commanded police have rounded up about a dozen of the escapees in the past few days.

If the Government implemented credible and transparent justice, Major Reinado said, he would return to Dili and turn himself in.

The former head of East Timor's military police faces charges of attempted murder and illegal possession of weapons in connection with recent political violence. The UN last Sunday promised him a fair trial if he gave himself up.

"I've been moving around and I've been chased by the international forces. Why is this? Am I an enemy?" he asked. "Why are these guys after me?"

East Timor descended into chaos in May, when fighting between factions within the security forces spilled into widespread gang warfare, with looting and arson attacks leaving at least 30 people dead and forcing 150,000 to flee from their homes.

Calm returned with the installation of a new government and the arrival of Australian peacekeepers, but tens of thousands of East Timorese still live in temporary camps, and sporadic gang fights have continued.