Stephen Fitzpatrick and Mark Dodd – More than 20,000 East Timorese, fearing renewed ethnic violence, have fled the riot-torn capital of Dili as the Government made desperate calls for calm yesterday.
Trucks, taxis and people pushing handcarts streamed out of the city after reports military infighting was about to explode. At least 11 people are thought to have been killed since last Friday, and the toll is expected to grow.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday he would support extending the mandate of the UN mission in Dili after a request from his East Timorese counterpart, Jose Ramos Horta.
Australia has three military liaison officers and four civilian police attached to the peacekeeping operation in East Timor, known as the United Nations Office in Timor-Leste.
Dili's port and airport were crowded with refugees yesterday, many shops were closed and there was panic buying at those that remained open. Petrol prices jumped from about US80c ($1.04) a litre to more than $US1 by midday.
Suburbs and the city centre were practically empty by mid-afternoon as people responded to text messages warning that the civil war that followed the 1999 independence vote was about to restart.
President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri held a joint press conference at which they urged almost 600 military deserters who have fled to the hills around Dili to return to the negotiating table. They also tried to reassure the East Timorese there was no likelihood of war breaking out.
Dozens of police from the country's western region have deserted their posts and escaped to join families in the mountains, the traditional refuge for Timorese in times of trouble.
A Dili-based World Bank official said the police had joined several hundred rebel soldiers, creating a grave risk for the Government.
Ethnic-based tensions between members of East Timor's police and defence force have intensified in recent months. Loromonu, or the nation's westerners, claim they are being passed over for promotion in favour of Lorosae, or people from the east. Similar tensions boiled over in December 2003, when mobs rioted and shops were burnt.
"Police from the western parts of East Timor have deserted their quarters and joined the petitioners in the mountains," one employee of an international body said. "As they left they took their guns and ammunition with them. "People are starting to panic. It reminds me of 1999."
Minister for Labour and Humanitarian Affairs Arsenio Bano said his office was drawing up plans to care for up to 20,000 displaced people.