East Timor's ruling party refused to fire the prime minister yesterday, defying the demands of the popular president and triggering the resignation of the Nobel prize-winning Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta.
The developments threatened to completely unravel the government as it struggled to regain control following the worst outbreak of violence since the country voted for independence seven years ago.
Many East Timorese say Prime Minster Mari Alkatiri's decision to dismiss 600 disgruntled soldiers in March was to blame for street battles and gang warfare that left at least 30 people dead and sent nearly 150,000 people fleeing from their homes.
He also faces allegations of forming a hit squad to silence his political opponents, a charge he denies.
President Xanana Gusmao, revered for leading East Timor's resistance to Indonesia's 24-year occupation, last week said he would resign himself unless Alkatiri stepped down -- sending thousands to the streets calling for the prime minister's ouster.
But the ruling Fretilin party said after holding emergency talks yesterday that Alkatiri had accepted the unanimous appeal of its committee to remain in power.
Gusmao's office would not say what his next move would be.
But Ramos-Horta, who won a Nobel peace prize in 1996 for his nonviolent resistance to Indonesian rule over his tiny homeland, responded by saying he himself would resign "until a new government is established."
He begged Alkatiri to follow suit, saying otherwise "the situation could become worse."
"I do respect Mari Alkatiri ... and we were friends for many years, but in this case I ask my old friend to resign," Ramos-Horta said in a live interview on East Timor Radio and Television late yesterday.
Transport Minister Ovideo Amaral also handed in his resignation, lashing out at Fretilin for ignoring the will of the people.
But members of the ruling party said that while they didn't want to escalate the crisis engulfing their nation, forcing a prime minister from office was not the answer.
"When [former U.S. President Bill] Clinton was accused, did he resign?" asked senior Fretilin member and Agriculture Minister Estanislau da Silva.
Just before dusk, some 5,000 anti-Alkatiri protesters rallied outside Government House after staying off the streets most of the day. The mood was festive, but it appeared most did not know of Fretilin's decision to keep Alkatiri in power.
A group of young men in black T-shirts circled a wooden casket that bore a photo of Alkatiri and a sign reading, "Vampire Man."
"We want a new prime minister, a clean one, a wise one, respected by the people, not an arrogant man," said 27-year-old Eugenio Gusmao.
Though Alkatiri said he knew nothing about the alleged political hit squads, a close ally, the former interior minister, is facing criminal charges for allegedly arming civilian militias on his request.
Australian media reported yesterday that East Timor's police chief Paulo Martins said he informed the prime minister by letter that he had seen civilians armed with 17 government assault rifles.
Martins also told reporters about a May 21 meeting of key ministers and security personnel where Ramos-Horta raised the police chief's gun claims, getting no response from Alkatiri.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of