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E. Timor's Prime Minister Remains Defiant 8:16 pm Fatah Deploys New Militia in West Bank 8:16 pm Bomber Kills 28, Wounds 62 in Iraqi Market 8:16 pm Montenegro Lawmakers Declare Independence 8:01 pm Bush Backs Federal Marriage Amendment 8:01 pm Opposition Party Wins Czech Elections 8:01 pm Mistaken Life-Death ID Case Roils School 7:46 pm Montenegrin Lawmakers Declare Independence 7:46 pm Trials Color Alabama's Gubernatorial Race 7:31 pm Rumsfeld Takes Aim at Iran, Russia, China 7:31 pm
From the Associated Press |  | Hundreds Loot Warehouses in East Timor Friday June 2, 2006 4:31 AM AP Photo XMB119 'By ANTHONY DEUTSCH Associated Press Writer DILI, East Timor (AP) - Lawlessness raged in parts of East Timor's capital Friday as mobs looted government warehouses, stealing computers, office chairs and file cabinets. Foreign troops deployed to restore order were nowhere to be seen. A fired military officer blamed the prime minister for the spiraling lawlessness and demanded he resign. At least 28 people have died and more than 100 have been wounded since last week in East Timor's worst spate of violence since its break from Indonesia in 1999. Five others were killed in earlier clashes on April 28. Up to a thousand people joined in the looting Friday - many of them had been waiting for rice handouts and became angry after realizing the warehouse containing the food relief had been emptied overnight. The looters carried away computers, office chairs, car parts and even musical instruments and loading them onto trucks. Foreign troops deployed to restore order after 11 days of unrest were not present. Maj. Alfredo Reinado, the officer whose dismissal contributed to East Timor's descent into violence, said that only the departure of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri could end the chaos. ``Alkatiri has ordered the killings,'' Reinado said from the Portuguese colonial-era villa in Maubisse that is now his base. ``Alkatiri has to resign and go to court for all the crimes he ordered.'' Reinado has emerged as a leading rival of Alkatiri in a feud that began with accusations of discrimination by hundreds of soldiers. In March, Alkatiri fired 600 soldiers from the 1,400-member army, sparking violence that spiraled into looting, arson, and street warfare between machete-armed rival gangs. Reinado once was a guerrilla, fighting occupying Indonesian forces for independence before East Timor's bloody break from Jakarta in 1999 that created one of the world's newest countries. Alkatiri has rejected calls for his resignation. He maintains he was right to fire the disgruntled soldiers, who went on strike claiming they were discriminated against because they came from the country's western regions, seen as sympathetic to Indonesia. The dispute split the security forces and paralyzed the government, paving the way for the street violence. The 600 dismissed soldiers followed Reinado into the hills surrounding the capital, Dili, after the April 28 riots. But there is little sign of military activity at Maubisse, the quiet hillside town where Reinado was born, kidnapped and enslaved as a boy by Indonesian troops, and where he now has a temporary base just inland from the seaside capital. A handful of Australian peacekeepers patrol the Pausada Hotel where he sleeps and awkwardly posed for photographs with him Thursday as he vowed to give them full cooperation. Reinado said his allegiance lies with revered President Xanana Gusmao, who led the country's independence struggle against Jakarta. The rogue troops have offered peace talks with Gusmao. On Thursday, Gusmao called on the feuding security forces to put aside their differences and help ``build the nation from ashes once again.'' Unrest persisted in Dili despite the presence of more than 2,000 foreign peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal. At least one person was reported killed on Thursday and rioters set fire to a row of shops and several vehicles in one neighborhood. The defense and interior ministers offered Thursday to take responsibility for the crisis by resigning.

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