Gusmao to be East Timor PM, police fire tear gas

DILI, Aug 6 (Reuters) East Timor independence hero Xanana Gusmao was appointed prime minister today after the president broke a deadlock following parliamentary elections, sparking violent protests by supporters of the former ruling party.

President Jose Ramos-Horta's move after after no single party won a majority in the elections more than a month ago concludes a year of political turbulence following rioting that brought down the previous Fretilin government.

Ramos-Horta is an ally of Gusmao, the country's first president after independence from Indonesia. He had said he would use his constitutional right to decide the composition of the new government if parties failed to do so.

''Today, I made a decision that the alliance form the government. The alliance has appointed Xanana to become prime minister,'' Ramos-Horta said at his office in the capital Dili, adding that the new government would be sworn in on Wednesday.

CNRT, a party founded this year by Gusmao, declared a coalition with other parties in the 65-member parliament to form a majority after the June 30 election.

Fretilin said the new government was unconstitutional.

''The president's decision is not based on the constitution.

The president is not respecting the people's expectations of the elections,'' Mari Alkatiri, Fretilin's secretary-general, told a news conference.

Alkatiri, a former prime minister, said Fretilin would challenge the legality of the new government, but would not mobilise supporters to engage in violence.

But soon after the announcement, Fretilin supporters burned tyres and blocked roads in Dili, forcing police to fire tear gas, police commander Mateus Fernandes said.

''We also received information that some people burned houses. We still don't know the scale of the damage or if there are any casualties,'' he told reporters.

Factional bloodshed broke out in the impoverished country of about one million people last year, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

The mayhem, during which 37 people were killed, was triggered by Alkatiri's decision to sack 600 soldiers.

Fretilin won 21 seats in the 65-member parliament in the June poll, far short of the majority required to rule, while CNRT took 18 seats.

Fretilin, which led East Timor's 24-year struggle against Indonesian rule, had argued that it won most votes in the polls.

Ramos-Horta urged Fretilin supporters not to turn to violence.

''I appeal to youths and the public to be calm and give the chance to Brother Xanana to govern,'' he said.

The United Nations welcomed the appointment of a new government, but issued a warning over violence.

The chief of the U.N. mission in East Timor, Atul Khare, said ''a criminal act in the name of a political cause is still a criminal act, and will be dealt with firmly.'' Fretilin has also threatened to withdraw from parliament if Ramos-Horta went ahead with his plans.

The party had proposed the appointment of an all-inclusive government with an independent prime minister as a way to end the stalemate.

Gusmao, a fighter-turned-politician who battled Indonesian forces in the hills for years before being captured, appears to have become increasingly frustrated by the pace of progress under Fretilin since independence five years ago.

REUTERS RC HT1935