Australian troops fired teargas on rampaging gangs in the capital of East Timor on Monday, trying to keep a lid on another day of violence in one of the world's poorest nations.
Youths attacked each other with rocks and spanners, and used petrol bombs to set houses ablaze, in clashes near Dili's Comoro Bridge, an area surrounded by slums which has been a flashpoint during weeks of unrest in the city.
Australian troops moved in with armoured personnel carriers and fired volleys of teargas as Black Hawk helicopters hovered in the air, causing the fighters to scatter before they regrouped later.
PHOTO: AFP
One man was beaten in the face with a rock when he was set upon by a mob as he was cycling to his home. His jaw was severly swollen and his shirt spattered with blood.
"They asked me 'where do you come from?'" Paulino Bianco said, as he was treated by an Australian medic. "When I told them, they attacked me."
An estimated 100,000 people have fled their homes to makeshift refugee camps to escape the violence.
The violence began two months ago after Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri sacked 600 of the country's 1,400-strong army after they went on strike to protest what they said was discrimination against those from the west of the country.
Westerners are generally seen as more pro-Indonesia, a sensitive issue in a country that fought a long and bloody guerrilla campaign, led by current President Xanana Gusmao, to win independence from its much larger neighbour.
Alkatiri has been blamed for much of the chaos but has resisted calls to resign, and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Sunday warned against moves to try to topple him.
"If he were just forced to resign somehow, especially by outside forces, my estimation is that that would just destabilise the country still further," said Downer, who held crisis talks with the Timorese ladership in Dili on Saturday.
Asked about reports that Gusmao had wept during their talks, Downer replied: "Well, it was very emotional ... Here we have him watching ... what he perceives to be the failure of an independent East Timor."
Australia is leading an international force of around 2,250 troops trying to restore order to the country. Their commander, Brigadier Mick Slater, said the level of violence was steady and that more police were needed.
"If we look at the number of lootings and burnings and gang fights, the numbers are not going up," Slater said.
"What we need are police who know how to do policing activity to get these people off the streets and lock them up until we get them before a judge and let the judge take care of them."
Australia has called for the UN, which reduced its presence here following the nation's full independence from Indonesia in 2002, to take a greater role in the country.
Foreign and Defence Minister Jose Ramos Horta was to meet later in the day with Major Alfredo Reinado, the commander of the rebel breakway soldiers who were sacked by Alkatiri.
The first aid flights since the crisis began started touching down on Monday, bringing tents, tarpaulins and jerry-cans for those who have taken refuge in the camps.
The UN World Food Programme also began distributing rice, sugar and other essential goods.
Ariane Rummery, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said her agency was in contact with the international force over concerns about the camps, including worries that the violence on the streets could spread to them.
"We're trying to relieve the congestion in the camps, they're just too crowded. "People are living cheek to jowl," she said.
"These conditions just exacerbate tensions and hopefully we can relieve them with these supplies."
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