Guido Goulart, Dili – East Timor's president invoked emergency powers on Monday to quell unrest after hundreds of young men blockaded roads with burning tires and concrete blocks, demanding that foreign troops pull out. Australia said it would evacuate nonessential government workers and the US issued a travel warning.

Security in the tiny Asian nation deteriorated after international forces backed by helicopters launched a pre-dawn raid Sunday on the mountain hide-out of fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado, killing four of his followers and sending others fleeing into the jungle. Reinado, heavily armed and wanted on murder charges, was among those who escaped.

"The state will use all legal means, including force, to stop violence and prevent destruction of property and killing, and to restore law and order," President Xanana Gusmao said in a national address, giving peacekeepers and police the right to carry out arrests and searches without warrants. He also granted them special powers to break up public gatherings.

East Timor, which broke from Indonesia in 1999 after 24 years of occupation, was plunged into crisis a year ago when factional fighting broke out between police and army forces. The clashes spilled into the streets, where looting, arson and gang warfare left at least 37 dead and sent 155,000 people fleeing their homes.

Relative calm was restored with the arrival of more than 2,700 foreign peacekeepers and the installation of a new government headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta, but dozens of people have been killed in recent months primarily in fighting between rival gangs.

There also has been an increase in looting, robbery, arson, assault and attacks on vehicles, raising concerns that a presidential election scheduled for next month could turn violent.

Much of the recent anger has been directed at Australian troops, who killed two Timorese men in a clash last month and led the deadly raid against Reinado. Rock-hurling protesters demanded Monday that international forces go home.

Hundreds blocked roads across the capital in support of the rebel leader, one holding a banner that said, "We, the young people, are prepared to die alongside Alfredo."

"The situation in Dili is tense," said UN police spokeswoman Monica Rodrigues. "There are many groups, the majority of them youths, demonstrating in support of Alfredo."

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said nonessential government staff would be evacuated and that Australians were at a greater risk of being attacked after last month's shooting. "The security situation is volatile and there is a high risk of violent civil unrest," he said in a statement.

Downer renewed calls for Reinado to surrender, saying that Australian forces would otherwise capture him.

The United States has advised its citizens to avoid the town of Same, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Dili, where the raid was conducted.

Reinado, who deserted the army with around 600 other soldiers early last year, escaped from jail in August. He threatened to launch a campaign against the government after Sunday's raid, according to one of his aides, Gastao Salsinha.

"This attack shows that the government has no capacity to solve our problem," said Salsinha, who is also on the run after surviving the assault. "Now it's ordering international troops to attack and kill our members."

[Associated Press reporter Anthony Deutsch in Jakarta contributed to this article.]