Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DILI335
2006-06-28 11:22:00
SECRET
Embassy Dili
Cable title:  

EAST TIMOR SITREP FOR 28 JULY

Tags:  PGOV MOPS ASEC KCRM AEMR AS TT 
pdf how-to read a cable
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FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2738
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0568
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
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RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0641
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0559
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0401
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0422
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0498
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RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 2063
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DILI 000335 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS
PACOM FOR POLAD AND JOC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV MOPS ASEC KCRM AEMR AS TT
SUBJECT: EAST TIMOR SITREP FOR 28 JULY

REF: (A) DILI 334; (B) DILI 333

DILI 00000335 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, EXEC, State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DILI 000335

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS
PACOM FOR POLAD AND JOC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 6/28/2016
TAGS: PGOV MOPS ASEC KCRM AEMR AS TT
SUBJECT: EAST TIMOR SITREP FOR 28 JULY

REF: (A) DILI 334; (B) DILI 333

DILI 00000335 001.2 OF 003


CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, EXEC, State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)

1. (U) Summary:
--- Dili security situation deteriorates overnight;
--- President "considering all options" for new Government;
--- Demonstration update: westerners prepare to depart,
easterners undecided;
--- UDT leadership announces the replacement of its two Members
of Parliament;
--- Government of Portugal activities and concerns.
End Summary.

Dili security situation deteriorates overnight
--------------


2. (U) Shortly after 8:00 p.m. last night, there was a
significant increase in tensions and related security incidents
throughout Dili. This followed the national television
broadcast of newly resigned Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri
speaking to would-be pro-Fretilin demonstrators --- all from the
three eastern districts of East Timor --- who were gathered
approximately 30 minutes outside of Dili. Embassy contacts
reported that as soon as the broadcast concluded there was a
resurgence of the Loromonu (western) versus Lorosae (eastern)
gang activity that plagued the city a few weeks ago. There were
reports through the night of multiple gunshots, hostile roaming
groups of young men, and multiple home burnings. Burnings
continued through today. Although the official Joint Task Force
(JTF) estimate was of 16 houses burnt and two incidents of
gunfire, unofficial reports from individual Timorese were that
several dozen houses were burnt last night and this morning and
that sporadic gunfire was heard throughout the night in several
neighborhoods.


3. (U) Some of the participants in the largely peaceful
anti-Alkatiri demonstrations that have taken place over the last
few days may have participated in the violence. It is likely,
however, that many or most of the participants were the same
neighborhood-based gangs that have committed similar acts over

the last several weeks. Demonstrators to whom Emboffs spoke
today indicated their unhappiness with the violent turn of
events.

President "considering all options" for new Government
-------------- --------------


4. (SBU) Despite President Xanana Gusmao's announcement on
Monday evening that he himself would lead the government for 30
days in order to give the ruling Fretilin party time to
reorganize itself and propose a candidate for Prime Minister
(see ref A) sources close to the President report that he is
actively considering other options that might result in earlier
formation of an interim government to lead the country until
elections can be held. These options include negotiating with
the Fretilin leadership to name a mutually acceptable Prime
Minister --- notwithstanding the President's belief that the
current party leadership was illegally elected and has no
standing to participate in the process --- and dissolving
Parliament and calling new elections. See reftels. Sources
close to the discussions said a decision could be announced
within the next 48 hours.

Demonstration update: westerners prepare to depart, easterners
undecided
-------------- --------------
--------------


5. (U) Organizers of the anti-Alkatiri demonstration, which
began earlier this week and was made up almost entirely of
people from western districts --- in part because local
officials in the East reportedly prevented anti-Alkatiri
demonstrators from coming to Dili --- told Emboff this afternoon
that they had taken a decision to end the demonstration and send
all participants from the districts home. They reported that
this decision was made today following a meeting dissident
leader Major Tara and other organizers held with President
Xanana Gusmao yesterday. One organizer from Maliana stated that

DILI 00000335 002.2 OF 003


they wanted to follow the President's request to give the
pro-Alkatiri demonstrators the chance to hold their own
demonstration. In addition, he expressed satisfaction with
Alkatiri's resignation. The demonstration organizer said he was
now willing to return home and observe political developments
over the next few weeks. Other departing demonstrators, in
addition to reiterating their support for Gusmao, expressed
weariness with their stay in Dili and a desire to get back to
their normal lives. We will continue to check on their status
to confirm whether the majority are in fact departing.


6. (U) Meanwhile, the pro-Fretilin demonstrators gathered about
30 minutes east of the city remain in place. According to our
most recent information, they were expecting another appearance
by Alkatiri and Fretilin party President Francisco "Lu'olo"
Guterres this afternoon, at which point they were planning to
make a decision about whether to come to Dili, continue to wait,
or cancel their demonstration plans and return to the districts.

UDT leadership announces the replacement of its two Members of
Parliament
-------------- --------------
-------------- --------------


7. (U) The two top officials of the Timorese Democratic Union
party (UDT) held a press conference today announcing the
replacement of the party's two Members of Parliament. UDT is
East Timor's oldest political party and currently holds two
seats in Parliament. According to UDT President Joao
Carrascalao, the party's MPs enraged the party's governing
council when they joined other opposition groups yesterday in
announcing that all opposition members in Parliament should stop
participating in the work of the legislative branch in hopes of
persuading the President to dissolve Parliament. The party's
leadership was not consulted by the two MPs and Carrascalao
stated that he found the statement by opposition MPs to be
irresponsible. UDT's leadership expressed their full support
for the President and urged him to take quick and decisive
action to end the current political crisis. They continued by
stating that any interim or caretaker Government would need to
work with the Standing Committee of Parliament which would
fulfill the legislative function should Parliament be dissolved.
Carrascalao concluded by expressing his hope that a political
solution can be found among politicians and stated his concern
that the attempt to start a popular uprising is both detrimental
to the development of democracy and potentially dangerous for
the residents of Dili.


8. (SBU) Although he leads an opposition party, Joao Carrascalao
is a close personal friend of ex-Prime Minister Alkatiri. In a
conversation with the Ambassador just before the press
conference, Carrascalao expressed strong opposition to the parts
of the opposition statement that were personally critical of
Alkatiri and Lu'Olo.


9. (U) Comment: It is not clear that the UDT leadership has
the legal authority to replace the party's Members of
Parliament. When another party attempted to do this in 2003,
Lu'Olo ruled that parties did not have the power to replace
members of Parliament once they are seated. The UDT leadership
may be resting its legal claim on the fact that its two members
were themselves substituted in 2002 for other elected members
who had resigned from Parliament. End Comment.

Government of Portugal activities and concerns
-------------- --------------


10. (S/REL/AUS/NZ/UK/CAN) EmbOff met today with several
UN-funded Portuguese advisors working in an array of government
ministries. When questioned regarding the general mood among
Portuguese advisors and the Portuguese Embassy, the
interlocutors stated that there was a growing fear that the next
government --- or indeed even the interim government --- could
adopt a less pro-Portugal, pro-Lusophone stance than did the
Alkatiri Government. Although the issue of Portuguese as a
national language is still debated in Timor, the Portuguese

DILI 00000335 003.2 OF 003


community appears more worried about having a Timorese Prime
Minister who does not see East Timor as having a special
relationship with other Lusophone countries. Should the next
Government adopt a more balanced approach and seek advisors from
a wide array of countries, including the United States and
Australia, the influence of the Government of Portugal would be
greatly diminished as much of Lisbon's influence here in Timor
flows directly through these bilateral and multilateral advisors
rather than through the Portuguese Embassy. The advisors said
they had heard that the Portuguese Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Joao Cravinho, made an
unannounced trip to Dili on Sunday in hopes of convincing Prime
Minister Alkatiri to resign and influence the selection, within
Fretilin, of the next Prime Minister. Cravinho's intervention
may well have helped to convince Alkatiri to resign and to
propose his close friend and ally Ana Pessoa to become the next
Prime Minister.
REES