Why East Timor is falling apart

Emerging from the still smoking ruins of her neighborhood in Dili, Rita Mesquita was in no doubt as to who is responsible for the arson, looting, and gun battles that have plunged East Timor's capital into chaos.

"I blame the prime minister for the destruction and all the tragedy here," the 45-year-old mother says, angrily pointing at the burned-out remains of tin-roofed houses. "He's the worst man I know."

Mrs. Mesquita is not alone. As vicious ethnic unrest roils the country, requiring an Australian-led expeditionary force to descend on Asia's poorest country for the second time in less than a decade, there is a widespread perception that Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri bears much of the responsibility.

From the streets of Dili to the mountains of the interior, many say his government's handling of a recent standoff within the army is indicative of the favoritism, corruption, and arrogance that they say has plagued East Timor's government since the nation gained independence in 2002.

Instead of listening to the grievances of the 600 soldiers that went on strike in March to protest alleged ethnic discrimination, the government sacked them. The move has provoked successive waves of tit-for-tat violence, and the renegade troops have taken to the hills and remain in a tense face-off with the government.

"Alkatiri is a criminal and should face justice," says the rebels' charismatic young leader, Lieutenant Commander Alfredo Reinado, as he paces the verandah of the hill-top Portuguese-era villa he has commandeered as rebel headquarters. Thursday, he said there will be no end to the crisis unless the prime minister resigns.

A Portuguese-speaking sophisticate, Mr. Alkatiri appears to have difficulty connecting with the mass of East Timorese, who speak more than 30 local languages. Many regard him as arrogant, aloof, and dictatorial. He also lacks credibility: Unlike President Xanana Gusmao, who devoted years to fighting the occupying Indonesian military from jungle hideouts, Alkatiri spent the same period in exile in Mozambique.

Indonesia had invaded the country after a civil war in the early 1970s. Up to 180,000 people are estimated to have died in the ensuing 24-year occupation, with the Indonesian military conducting a scorched-earth policy against East Timorese guerilla fighters.

The tiny country - which spent 400 years as a neglected Portuguese colonial backwater - voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1999, unleashing a wave of violence and destruction of infrastructure by Indonesian soldiers and pro-Jakarta militias.

Seven years on, the national solidarity that garnered much praise internationally appears to be in tatters. Lt. Cdr. Reinado and his renegade troops, which constitute half the army, have deserted their posts and are hiding out in the mountainous interior, supported by elements of the police.

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