Rebel soldiers in East Timor have promised to turn in more weapons to Australian-led peacekeeping forces, Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta said yesterday.
The surrender of the firearms showed "good faith and a sense of responsibility" on the part of the rebels, Ramos-Horta told reporters before departing for Bali for a crisis meeting with his President Xanana Gusmao and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Rebel troops, led by Major Alfredo Reinado, surrendered their weapons to Australian troops Friday at their mountain hideout of Maubisse, south of Dili.
"He [Reinado] pledged to continue to see whether there are other weapons," Ramos-Horta said, adding that Reinado was trying to persuade other armed groups to lay down their arms.
Ramos Horta said he had spoken with Major Augusto Tara, another rebel leader holed out in an area outside Dili, who had also promised to "surrender weapons in negotiations with Australian forces."
Ramos Horta commented that the surrendering of weapons was a step in the right direction but that "It's not the end of the story. If anything, it shows good faith and trust in us [by the rebels] that truth and justice be done."
The disarmament will add to increasing pressure on UN-backed international prosecutors to investigate rebel claims that East Timor's Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri had been arming gangs to foment violence, Ramos Horta added. The government must now ensure that the "international community holds a thorough investigation into weapons distribution," he said.
The tiny Catholic nation was plunged into civil unrest when Alkatiri in March sacked 600 soldiers from the country's west who had complained of discrimination. This triggered clashes among rival security forces and gang wars on the streets that killed 21 people.
Some 2,200 peace keepers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal were flown in to quell the violence and are now trying to restore order in Dili, where over 133,000 people have been displaced.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was