Currently in East Timor, first priority should be given to ensuring security for citizens and provide emergency relief to victims of the violence of recent weeks. East Timor cannot do the work by itself and needs assistance from the international community. After a wave of frightful violence in April and May killed at least 30 people and rendered more than 130,000 others homeless, a peacekeeping force was sent to East Timor at the Government’s request to quell the violence. The peacekeeping forces include 2,200 soldiers from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, and Malaysia. However, according to East Timor Ambassador to the UN, Jose Luis Guterres, the country needs UN peacekeeping forces with the participation of more regional countries such as Fiji, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, and the Republic of Korea.

In 1999, when East Timor split from Indonesia and became an independent nation, the UN sent peacekeeping forces to help the world’s youngest country. The UN officially ended the peacekeeping mission in the country last May as it thought that the country was on its way to steady development.

However, violence broke out across the country after nearly one year. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on June 13 said that he will send a delegation to East Timor to prepare for the return of UN peacekeeping forces. He said that the decision to shut down an earlier mission in East Timor is one of causes leading to the current violence in the country.

Speaking before the UN Security Council, Mr Annan said the sad events of recent weeks reflect shortcomings not only on the part of the East Timorese leadership, but also on the part of the international community in inadequately sustaining the country’s nation-building process. The requirement to establish UN peacekeeping forces in East Timor has received great support from UN members, including the US – the first country which called for an end of the UN peacekeeping mission in East Timor.

However, Ian Martin, Mr Annan’s special envoy to East Timor said after his visit to Dili capital that it will take at least six months for the peacekeeping forces to be deployed in the country.

Earlier, Mr Annan asked UN Human Rights chief Louise Arbour to lead efforts to set up an independent commission to investigate the recent wave of violence in East Timor.

According to the latest news, a group of public prosecutors on June 14 joined hands with East Timor authorities to chase those responsible for the recent violence.

The same day, speaking to the National Assembly, East Timor President Xanana Gusmao stressed his priority was putting an end to the current crisis. Mr Gusmao said that the Government should take responsibility for the crisis, but he did not mention whom.

In addition to maintaining security in the city, aid relief for victims of the violence is also an urgent requirement. Chief UN aid coordinator Jan Egeland has called for emergency aid of US$20 million to help homeless people. Currently, as many as 70,000 people are staying at refugee camps in Dili and 63,000 others fleeing out of the capital.

According to analysts, to thoroughly resolve the situation in East Timor, it is imperative to solve ethnic disputes and contradictions between East Timor leaders, particularly between President Gusmao and Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

The chaos occurred after Prime Minister Alkatiri fired 600 soldiers, nearly half the nation's army, following complaints of discrimination because they came from the country's west.

However, the core of the violence spreading across the country is the confrontation between western and eastern groups. Meanwhile, the conflict between President Gusmao from the east and Prime Minister Alkatiri from the west is becoming tense after Mr Alkatiri blamed Mr Gusmao of using violence to take away his power. The contradiction has led to a partition of the army and police between the President and Prime Minister.

Envoy Ian Martin said that it is necessary to exert greater efforts from government organisations to find a solution to the crisis.