Mark Dodd – Prosecutors have dropped an investigation into allegations that former East Timorese prime minister Mari Alkatiri ordered a hit squad to kill political rivals, clearing the way for the Fretilin leader to contest April's presidential elections.
Dr Alkatiri, forced to resign last year over the allegations after a power struggle with President Xanana Gusmao, said yesterday he had been told by the prosecutor's office the investigation was closed and no further action would be taken for want of evidence.
"The false allegations, aired with extreme political bias and utmost ill-will, have been found to be baseless when subjected to judicial scrutiny," Dr Alkatiri said in Dili.
Dr Alkatiri, who has long denied any wrongdoing, said the allegations were a "politically motivated smear campaign instigated against my good name and character in East Timor, Australia and elsewhere".
Timor's deputy prosecutor, Ivo Valente, said he did not know of the alleged development, but noted that Dr Alkatiri's case was being handled by the prosecutor-general, who was travelling in Australia.
Dr Alkatiri was alleged by a former cabinet minister to have played a role in the unrest, which killed at least 37 people and saw the deployment of Australian-led international peacekeepers in the tiny nation that won independence from Indonesia in 1999.
As the head of Fretilin, East Timor's largest political party, Dr Alkatiri will be able to contest the presidential election called for April 9. That would appear to rule out a presidential run by Nobel peace prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta, who replaced Dr Alkatiri as prime minister last June 26.
The East Timorese Prime Minister said last Wednesday that he would run for the presidency only if there were no other candidates. Mr Gusmao, who called the elections on Saturday, was elected president in April 2002 and has repeatedly said he will not run again.
But with the field cleared for Dr Alkatiri to take the presidency, an intriguing political possibility looms with rumours that Mr Gusmao will make a run for parliament as member of the opposition Democratic Party.
The former leader of Fretilin's military wing during the Indonesian occupation is East Timor's greatest national hero. His massive personal popularity could be enough to propel his new party to victory in parliamentary polls to be called after the presidential election.
This could see a prime minister Gusmao facing off against a president Alkatiri, reversing the roles of last year, when Australia led a force of 3200 foreign peacekeepers to East Timor in late May after the country descended into chaos following the sacking of 600 mutinous soldiers.
Sporadic gang-related violence has continued in the Asia-Pacific region's youngest country, which has been plagued by poverty and high youth unemployment since independence in 2002.
The changing political environment in Dili came as Foreign Minister Alexander Downer moved to invoke a rarely used "national interest" exemption clause to fast-track ratification of the Timor Sea Treaty through the Australian parliament more than 12 months after the signing of the historic agreement.
The Joint Standing Committee on Treaties was given barely 24 hours' notice yesterday that they would meet Mr Downer tonight and hear why he wanted the committee to rubber-stamp the deal.
In Dili, ratification of the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor Sea (CMATS) has been held up because of ongoing civil strife stemming from last year's political unrest.
Under CMATS, East Timor's revenue share of the Greater Sunrise oil and gas prospect straddling the boundary of the so-called Joint Petroleum Development Area could be as much as $19 billion because of a newly agreed 50-50 split with Australia.