Waves of Violence Slam East Timor Again

It seems the situation in East Timor is worsening amid the continuous efforts of peacekeeping military units sent from foreign countries to restore law and order.

In the meantime, the population has to adapt to living in makeshift shelters and using the emergency airlifts of food rations, cooking sets, tents and blankets sent by the United Nations.

Officials of East Timor held a round of discussions on Monday in order to control the violence, while Jose Ramos Horta, the East Timorese Foreign Minister and Nobel Peace prize laureate met with several commanders of different factions in order to establish common ground for reconciliation efforts.

However, Alfredo Reinado, the most important of the rebel chiefs was not among the number of rebels he met, yet the minister's spokespeople stated that Horta would meet him in the following days in order to seek "avenues for all-inclusive talks which will lead to a lasting resolution of the political issues".

The Parliament convened in a plenary session for the first time since the fighting surged last month in capital Dili. Although only 50 parliamentarians, out of a total of 88, attended the session, excusing the others for not taking part either due to lack of transport or due to fear for their safety, they were enough to make up the necessary quorum.

Mobs robbed a warehouse containing sacks of seeds and set several buildings in Dili on fire on Tuesday, while peacekeepers did not immediately interfere with the looting which occurred near the city center. Other groups of youths continued to torch buildings in and around the capital.

A group of 2,000 people, from the town of Gleno in East Timor's Ermera district, marching towards the capital to protest outside the Parliament chambers for the suspension of the parliament and the dismissal of the country's government, was halted on a road outside Dili while waiting to get approval to enter the capital. Malaysian and Australian peacekeeping officials met with Augusto Tara, the group's leader, in order to negotiate with them.