Mark Dodd and Sid Marris – East Timor President Xanana Gusmao and his former prime minister Mari Alkatiri have been singled out for criticism in a report from the UN into the violence last April.
The wide-ranging report is understood to be a brutal assessment of the breakdown of control that culminated in an Australian-led peacekeeping force being deployed.
The UN report, expected to be released next week, says the leadership should have done more to solve its political differences and restrain rival supporters and dissident military.
The Brussels-based International Crisis Group believes the report will "name names" and is worried that its release could spark more violence. Former UN representative in East Timor Sukehiro Hasegawa, before he finished his term there, warned there would be "tears" over the report.
In its evaluation of the situation in East Timor, the ICG has advised Mr Gusmao "to think the unthinkable – forgoing any role in the 2007 elections so new leaders can emerge".
But East Timor Prime Minister Jose Ramos Horta – who was in Australia yesterday and has talked about the need to encourage a younger generation to develop in politics – talked upMr Gusmao's popularity and the desire of people for him torun again in elections due next year.
"I have been travelling throughout the country since the crisis, every conceivable place you think of – neighbourhoods, even talking with the gangs, the youth – I have not found one single individual in the country that says Xanana Gusmao should not run; quite the contrary," Dr Ramos Horta said.
"As recent as a few days ago, people were telling me we must tell Xanana he has to stand for a second term, but he seems to be determined not to." Dr Ramos Horta said he was confident that the release of the UN report would not lead to further unrest.
"Primarily, for us it is an important report so that we do some soul-searching and look at the weaknesses of the institutions, the responsibility of individuals, so that we learn and do not allow this type of situation to happen again," he said.
East Timor and Australia yesterday signed an agreement covering security in the lucrative joint petroleum development area between the two countries, which would allow co-operation in responding to threats in the area, where both nations share government revenues from petroleum developments.
Mr Ramos Horta said he hoped the East Timorese agreement on sharing revenue from the Greater Sunshine development would go before Parliament next year.
The violence in April grew out of simmering tensions between those from the east, known as Lorosae, and those from the west, Loromonu, which infected the military and police.
The situation was exacerbated by attempts by ambitious interior minister Rogerio Lobato to build up a rival security force under direct control of the Government, rather than the President.
A strike by some soldiers, followed by fighting between rivals, led to a breakdown of law and order that was seized on by street gangs. In May, 1300 Australian troops led soldiers from several countries to restore calm.
That deployment is now down to 950, with the Government planning to reduce it to about 600 by the time of East Timor's elections, next May.