Prime Minister John Howard met Australian troops leading a
peace-keeping mission in East Timor on Tuesday, part of a trip
during which he is also due to hold talks with the nation's new
cabinet members.
Howard was met on arrival by East Timor Prime Minister Jose
Ramos-Horta, who took over last week after Mari Alkatiri resigned
following weeks of clashes, looting and arson in which at least 20
people died and 100,000 were displaced.
Flanked by heavy security, Howard went to the port in Dili to
visit Australian troops, part of a 2,500-strong international peace
keeping force that was brought in to restore a shaky peace to the
tiny country.
The violence flared after Alkatiri sacked about 600 members of
the 1,400-strong army when they protested against discrimination
tied to regional origins.
Howard is due to meet East Timor's new cabinet, which was sworn
in on Friday, during his one-day trip.
Nobel laureate Ramos-Horta, previously the foreign minister, has
promised to restore security and confidence to East Timor ahead of
general elections due next year that may bring in a new
government.
Australia's latest peace-keeping mission to East Timor is the
second time in recent years Canberra has sent troops to restore
order.
East Timor was a Portuguese colony for centuries before a
revolution in Lisbon in 1975 gave the territory a brief taste of
independence. Indonesian troops invaded a few days later and
Jakarta annexed East Timor in 1976.
After a 1999 vote for independence marked by violence blamed
largely on pro-Jakarta militia with ties to the Indonesian army, an
international peacekeeping force moved into the territory, ushering
in a transitional period of UN administration. East Timor became a
fully-fledged nation in 2002.
Economically East Timor, with a million people, is one of the
world's poorest countries and has massive unemployment, although in
decades to come it is due to receive billions of dollars from
energy resources that are now being developed.
(Chinadaiy.com via agencies July 18, 2006)
