Australia wants UN police force for East Timor

Dili, June 3: Australia wants the United Nations to provide a police force for East Timor that will eventually take away responsibility for security from the mostly military peacekeeping force deployed last week.

Speaking in East Timor's troubled capital after a brief visit today, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Australia was prepared for a long-term commitment of police but that they should serve under a UN umbrella.

''We believe that the UN should have a bigger role in the immediate future of East Timor,'' he told reporters at Dili airport.

''Clearly there will be quite a need for an international police presence for quite a while. It would be appropriate for that international police presence to operate under the auspices of the United Nations.'' As he spoke, a thick plume of smoke rose into the sky nearby as another house was torched. But the capital was mostly calm today, some small shops opened for business and traffic appeared to be returning to normal.

Dozens of homes and businesses have been destroyed in the past two weeks by youth gangs loosely allied to feuding factions of east Timor's armed forces.

The split erupted when Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri sacked around 600 of the 1,400 strong army for mutiny when they protested about alleged discrimination against soldiers from the east of the country.

The country's police force virtually disintegrated ten days ago when seven officers were shot dead after they were sent to disarm some of the soldiers, and since then the gangs have run amok.

Downer said it was obvious a 2,500-strong Australian-led military peacekeeping force had done much to restore security, but that role in the long term would be better suited to police.

''We will be taking this up in New York and with relevant countries that are members of the United Nations Security Council,'' Downer said.

''The sooner the day-to-day law and order can be handled by the police, the better.'' The violence is the biggest crisis to hit east Timor since the country became independent in 2002 after being run by the United Nations following a referendum that ended decades of often bloody rule by Indonesia.

Many analysts feel East Timor needed more time and experience before being left to handle its own affairs.

Australia has been strongly critical of east Timor's leaders -- particularly Alkatiri -- but today Downer refused to be drawn on whether the prime minister should step down. The defence and interior ministers quit last week.

''I don't want to wade into Timor's politics,'' Downer said.''That is a matter for them''.

Elections are due to be held in East Timor next year, but many diplomats feel Alkatiri may not last that long.

REUTERS