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S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DILI 000262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS 
NSC FOR HOLLY MORROW 
PACOM FOR JOC, POLAD, J5 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  5/24/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC MARR TT
SUBJECT: EAST TIMOR REQUESTS FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION; PRIME 
MINISTER MAY RESIGN 
 
REF: (A) DILI 189; (B) DILI 203; (C) DILI 213; (D) DILI 219; (E) DILI 220; (F) 
DILI 226; (G) STATE 75819; (H) DILI 229 
 
DILI 00000262  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Grover Joseph Rees, Ambassador, U.S. Embassy 
Dili, Department of State. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
Classified by Ambassador Grover Joseph Rees for reasons 1(b) & 
(d). 
 
¶1. (S) Summary:  East Timor's four top government leaders today 
announced that the government would request military 
intervention from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, and Malaysia 
to restore order and to end what President Xanana Gusmao called 
"this climate of panic."  Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta made 
clear that the Government of East Timor (GOET) hoped that 
Australia would have military forces on the ground in Timor 
within the next 24 hours to prevent further deterioration of the 
security situation, with other nations perhaps responding to the 
request later.  In a smaller meeting just after the public 
announcement, Ramos-Horta said it is "highly likely" that Prime 
Minister Alkatiri will offer his resignation within the next few 
days as another essential component in restoring peace and 
stability, and that if Alkatiri does not resign the President 
will convene the Council of State in order to invoke the 
constitutional procedure for the dismissal of the Prime 
Minister.  Ramos-Horta indicated that he himself would likely 
then be asked to serve as interim Prime Minister pending the 
next Parliamentary elections, and that he would request the 
United Nations to conduct these elections.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) In a meeting this afternoon attended by most GOET Cabinet 
members, heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Dili, and 
representatives of the Catholic Church, President Xanana Gusmao 
announced that he and other top GOET leaders were requesting 
foreign intervention to restore order in East Timor and to end 
what he called "this climate of panic."  The President announced 
that a joint letter signed by himself, Prime Minister Alkatiri, 
President of Parliament Francisco Lu'Olo Guterres, and Foreign 
Minister Ramos-Horta would be sent to the government of 
Australia this afternoon, and that similar requests would be 
made to the governments of Portugal, New Zealand, and Malaysia. 
Gusmao said the letter would request that Australia provide "a 
robust police presence backed by a military force." Foreign 
Minister Ramos-Horta then explained that there was widespread 
support among the Timorese public for the proposed intervention, 
and that the mere presence of the requested forces would have a 
deterrent effect that could well make combat engagements 
unnecessary, since "there is no faction in Timor that is 
interested in fighting with international forces."  Prime 
Minister Alkatiri and President of Parliament Lu'Olo, who had 
reportedly resisted the request for Australian intervention, sat 
beside the President and the Foreign Minister but did not speak. 
 Ramos-Horta made clear that the security situation was 
deteriorating rapidly, with pitched gun battles between members 
of the armed forces (FDTL) and dissident FDTL members supported 
by elements in the national police (PNTL).  He said GOET hoped 
the requested Australian forces could be on the ground in Timor 
"within 24 hours" in order to prevent further fighting. 
 
¶3. (S) Ramos-Horta then asked Ambassador Rees and Deputy Special 
Representative of the UN Secretary General (DSRSG) Anis Bajwa to 
remain for a smaller meeting.  This meeting was also attended by 
President Gusmao's Chief of Staff, Agio Pereira, and by the 
Ambassador of New Zealand.  Ramos-Horta explained that foreign 
military intervention is only one of the steps necessary to 
restore peace and stability in East Timor.  He said the other 
key step is the resignation of Prime Minister Alkatiri. 
According to Ramos-Horta, in his own recent travels around the 
country he has enocountered a broad popular consensus that 
Alkatiri's removal is essential to restoring public confidence 
in Government.  See Ref H.  Ramos-Horta also said that Bishop 
Alberto Ricardo Da Silva of Dili, whom the Government had asked 
 
DILI 00000262  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
to tour troubled districts in the western part of East Timor in 
an effort to restore calm, had reported a similar consensus. 
(Note:  Bishop Ricardo, who rarely attends government functions, 
was present at today's announcement of the request for foreign 
intervention.)  Ramos-Horta said President Gusmao is 
"particularly insistent" that Alkatiri must resign or be 
removed, that the matter has been discussed with Alkatiri, and 
that it is "highly likely" he will resign within the next few 
days. Ramos-Horta said he expected that he himself would then be 
asked to serve as Prime Minister, which he would agree to do on 
an interim basis until the next election.  He said he would 
retain all but a few of the current Cabinet members and that he 
would ask the United Nations to "conduct" --- rather than just 
to assist and monitor --- the elections in order to ensure that 
they were administered capably and fairly. 
 
¶4. (S)  Ramos-Horta said that if Alkatiri does not resign, the 
President will convene the Council of State in order to invoke 
the provision of Article 112 of the Constitution for the removal 
of the Prime Minister "when necessary to ensure the regular 
functioning of the democratic institutions."  See Refs F & H. 
He said the President would also consider dissolving Parliament 
so as to bring about an election sooner rather than later, but 
he acknowledged that the constitutional provisions on dissolving 
Parliament are more restrictive than the provision allowing the 
President to dismiss the Prime Minister. 
 
¶5. (S) Embassy Dili has learned that the Government of Australia 
(GOA) has received the formal written GOET request and that 
negotiations are underway and could proceed very quickly. 
 
¶6.  (S) Comment: The inclusion of Portugal and Malaysia in the 
list of countries whose assistance would be requested was 
apparently to satisfy the Prime Minister, who would have 
preferred an all-Portuguese or an all-Malaysian force to one 
containing any Australians at all.  The particular Portuguese 
and Malaysian paramilitary police units that will be the subject 
of these invitations have both served in East Timor before, and 
both had a reputation for training Timorese police to use 
excessive levels of force.   The Prime Minister had also 
submitted a draft letter that required the Australian forces to 
operate "in co-ordination with the Prime Minister's office." 
Ramos-Horta insisted on changing this to "in co-ordination with 
the President and the Prime Minister." 
 
¶7. (S) Comment continued:  One possible sticking point in the 
impending GOET-GOA negotiations is that the elements in FDTL 
that have been most prominent in the recent military operations 
--- and who are generally regarded by Timorese as one of several 
warring armed groups rather than as protectors of peace and 
stability --- might be unwilling to retire to their barracks and 
leave the field to the Australian forces.  Ramos-Horta privately 
acknowledged today that this is a "sensitive issue" and 
suggested that perhaps FDTL could retain responsibility for 
security in the three eastern districts, which have not 
experienced serious security problems, while leaving Dili and 
the troubled western districts to the Australians. 
 
¶8. (S) Comment continued:  Although Embassy Dili's Timorese 
sources overwhelmingly agree with Foreign Minister Ramos-Horta's 
assessment that Alkatiri's resignation or removal would be a big 
step toward restoring public confidence in the Government, his 
assessment that Alkatiri is "highly likely" to resign soon may 
underestimate the Prime Minister's tenacity.  Indeed, whatever 
pressure Alkatiri may now feel to resign would presumably be 
substantailly reduced if the presence of Australian forces 
succeeds in quickly restoring peace and stability.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
REES 
 
STEIN 
REES