Shortly after sunrise, hundreds flocked to church to pray for an and to the violence, which continued just blocks away.
Robert Ashe, regional representative for the UN High Commission for Refugees, said yesterday that about 27,000 people have sought refuge in the capital.
Ashe said there were 4,000 internally displaced people at Dili's airport, 3,500 at Dili's port, 3,000 at the UN compound, and 16,500 at three religious compounds.
The lack of a police presence prompted the UN to evacuate most of its staff to Australia -- a move that was bitterly contested by aid workers opting to stay.
"The symbols are all wrong," World Vision head Tim Costello told reporters on his arrival at Dili airport. "The people who are camped here, who can never get on a plane, see the UN leaving. I would hate to think of the message they get from that."
UN special representative Sukehiro Hasegawa, speaking to reporters at the airport as he saw off around 300 of his staff members, said more peacekeepers were needed to halt the unrest in the tiny nation of around a million.
The UN will keep more than 100 international staff in East Timor while others work from Australia, Hasegawa said.
Australia said it will send up to 50 federal police officers to help contain marauding gangs, probably within the next 24 hours.
Around 2,000 Australian troops were either on the ground or in transit to East Timor, the defense department said yesterday. Seven ships and four Black Hawk helicopters were also assisting the deployment, it said.
New Zealand and Malaysia also sent smaller numbers of troops and Portugal agreed to help.
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