ETimor capital calm under state of emergency
East Timor's capital Dili was calm early on Tuesday with residents packing markets seemingly oblivious to a declared state of emergency after assassination attempts on the nation's top leaders.
By Agencies |
DILI: East Timor's capital Dili was calm early on Tuesday with residents packing markets seemingly oblivious to a declared state of emergency after assassination attempts on the nation's top leaders.
Markets bustled and banks opened their doors as usual, though traffic was lighter amid a heavy presence by UN police and international troops patrolling the streets, reported the media.
A police checkpoint was set up 50 metres from the palace where President Jose Ramos-Horta, who was shot and wounded in the dawn attack by renegade soldiers early on Monday, would normally be working.
Interim president Vicente Guterres issued a decree at the palace saying that a state of emergency had come into force from 10:00 pm on Monday evening and would last for an initial 48 hours.
Under the emergency, a curfew will be in place from 8:00 pm to 6:00 am while all gatherings and rallies are banned, the decree said.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who also came under ambush early on Monday but escaped uninjured, declared he wanted the state of emergency in place late on Monday, but it needed to be formalised by the acting president.
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The double assassination attempt plunged the fledgling nation of East Timor into renewed crisis following unrest that flared in 2006 and saw military and police factions wage deadly battle on Dili's streets. That violence, which left at least 37 people dead and forced more than 150,000 people from their homes or some 15 percent of the population forced the beleaguered government to ask for international help.
Australian led peacekeepers as well as UN police have since been on patrol in the tiny nation but were not tasked with providing security to the president, a UN official said on Monday.
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