VZCZCXRO8969
OO RUEHCHI RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHDT #0192/01 1191557
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 291557Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DILI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2445
INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RHHMUNA/USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0416
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0354
RUEHLI/AMEMBASSY LISBON PRIORITY 0343
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0200
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0214
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 0285
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0086
RUEHDT/AMEMBASSY DILI 1766

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 DILI 000192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS 
NSC FOR HOLLY MORROW 
PACOM FOR JOC AND POLAD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ASEC MARR TT
SUBJECT: MORE VIOLENCE IN DILI AREA LAST NIGHT, BUT CALM TODAY 
 
REF: A) DILI 189 B) DILI 184; C) DILI 181; D) DILI 178; E) DILI 169; F) DILI 152; G) DILI 147; H) DILI 144 
 
DILI 00000192  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: There was more rioting yesterday evening in the 
village of Tasitolu, just west of Dili, and at least three more 
people died, apparently shot by members of the armed forces 
(FDTL) who had responded to the Tasitolu riot, in addition to 
the two who had died earlier in Dili.  Although senior 
Government of East Timor (GOET) leaders and others attribute the 
rioting to members of a radical group that had infiltrated a 
peaceful demonstration by 595 ex-soldiers, there are credible 
reports that at least a few of the ex-soldiers participated in 
the subsequent rioting.  FDTL patrolled Tasitolu and parts of 
Dili last night and today, and their vigorous attempts to seek 
out and arrest their ex-colleagues contributed to a climate of 
fear and tension in Dili.   Dili was, however, calm by the end 
of today.  Thousands of people fled the city and thousands of 
other sought refuge in churches, police stations, military 
headquarters, the UN compound, and Embassies including the U.S. 
Embassy.  The Embassy is secure notwithstanding the continued 
presence on the compound of some FSN employees and their 
families who are expected to depart early tomorrow.  Embassy is 
in touch with U.S. citizen employees and other U.S. citizen 
residents of East Timor and has received no reports of harm or 
serious danger to U.S. citizens.  End summary. 
 
More on Dili riot yesterday 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) The Embassy has received more details from eyewitnesses 
as well as official reports regarding the demonstration and 
subsequent riot that took place in Dili yesterday afternoon, 
with riot activity continuing into the evening.  The following 
is what we now understand regarding these events: 
 
-- Around mid-day at least three groups of demonstrators 
convened near the Government compound.  The first two groups 
comprised primarily young men who did not appear to connected to 
the 595 ex-soldiers who had initiated the demonstration.  (Note: 
 the 595 ex-soldiers are now generally referred to by all sides 
as "the petitioners").  One of these groups of young men in 
particular was agitating for conflict from the beginning, and is 
believed by Government sources to consist of members of the 
radical anti-government group Colimau 2000  (see Reftel).  The 
third group to arrive was made of a number of the petitioners. 
The non-petitioner groups were heard to be shouting that they 
had lost patience, that they wanted to remove the Prime 
Minister, and that they were ready to die for their cause.  A 
number of the petitioners attempted to hold the crowd back (as 
described in Reftel A); however, there are reliable reports that 
a few petitioners were encouraging the would-be rioters. 
 
-- When the group broke through and started moving into the 
Government compound, a few of the petitioners joined with them 
and participated in the violent destruction of property, 
including burning at least two cars and breaking car and 
building windows.  One policeman was injured by a machete 
during this initial melee. 
 
-- The group effectively split into two as things proceeded. 
The first was a group of approximately 200-300 rioters, mostly 
young civilians but including at least a few petitioners, who 
smashed cars and other property as they proceeded.  The second 
group apparently consisted of most of the petitioners who had 
been at the demonstration, although eyewitness accounts vary. 
This group was some distance behind the first group, marching in 
an orderly and peaceful manner with a police escort.  Both 
groups proceeded west through the Comoro neighborhood on the 
road that leads to the village of Tasitolu, which had been the 
staging ground for the demonstration. 
 
-- When the first group --- that is, the rioters --- reached 
Comoro Market, they turned their attention to attacking the 
market, perhaps because some vendors in the market are 
"Lorosa'e" people from the eastern districts of East Timor.  The 
market vendors came out to fight the crowd, and police also 
intervened with tear gas.  A journalist covering the 
developments said he saw an ambulance taking 22 injured people 
and one dead person from the scene. 
 
 
DILI 00000192  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
-- Further along their path, the rioters burned a house and 
destroyed a number of roadside kiosks. 
 
-- When the rioters reached Tasitolu, they dispersed into at 
least two groups, heading into neighborhoods on either side of 
the main road and continuing their rampage.  At this point the 
police, including riot police, were on hand and attempting to 
detain the rioters. 
 
--  As in Dili, eyewitnesses to the rioting in Tasitolu reported 
seeing at least a  few petitioners participating in the 
destruction along with a larger group of civilians. 
 
FDTL join in security operations, kill 3 alleged rioters, target 
ex-FDTL petitioners 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Up until late afternoon yesterday (April 28), all 
operations against the rioting were carried out by the police 
(PNTL).  However, at about 5:00 p.m. yesterday, active duty 
members of the armed forces (FDTL) became directly involved in 
the operations.  According to an official briefing, the FDTL was 
given responsibility for the Tasitolu area and the adjacent 
areas of the Comoro neighborhood.  The PNTL were to continue to 
patrol in the rest of the city.  However, some FDTL were seen 
during last night and today patrolling in other areas of Dili. 
Also, Embassy staff saw joint PNTL-FDTL operations being carried 
out in town on the road leading toward Tasitolu.  Up until now, 
while it appears that the FDTL is primarily responsible for 
Tasitolu, the exact division of responsibilities remains murky. 
 
¶4. (U) Shortly after 5 p.m. yesterday, FDTL members arrived in 
Tasitolu to assist the police in ending the riot and/or 
arresting the rioters.  According to Colonel Lere, a firefight 
ensued in which the rioters threw two grenades, slightly 
injuring one FDTL member, and the FDTL responded with gunfire, 
killing three rioters. 
 
¶5. (U) Gunfire was heard throughout the night and into the 
morning not only in Tasitolu but also in Comoro and in the area 
of the U.S. Embassy, which is near Comoro.  Emboffs heard some 
of this gunfire, as did numerous other credible sources.  In 
addition, we received reports of disturbances in the Becora area 
of Dili, which is on the eastern side of town, including 5-10 
shots fired in the early morning.  Finally, several Embassy 
personnel saw a large blaze at Taibesi Market, which has been 
the site of repeated disturbances in recent weeks (see Reftel B 
and refs therein) in the early evening.  An Embassy source later 
confirmed that several houses in the market area had been burned. 
 
¶6. (U) The areas in which gunfire was heard corresponded roughly 
to the areas in which FDTL members were patrolling, although 
some eyewitnesses to the Dili rioting early yesterday afternoon 
also saw PNTL officers firing their guns in the air. 
 
¶7. (U) Embassy has heard multiple reports of FDTL soldiers going 
to the homes of petitioners' families and demanding, in some 
cases at gunpoint, that they reveal the petitioner's 
whereabouts.  One of these reports was an eyewitness account 
from a reliable Embassy employee whose brother is one of the 
petitioners.  Many Dili residents believe that the FDTL who are 
conducting these raids may be more interested in exacting 
revenge against their former colleagues than in investigating 
particular crimes.  According to FDTL Colonel Lere (the acting 
commander of FDTL) and PNTL Commissioner Paulo Martins, 
petitioners who are arrested by FDTL are promptly turned over to 
the police, who will hold them for investigation and questioning 
and release those who do not appear to have committed crimes. 
However, several police officers have expressed concern to 
Emboffs that petitioners should turn themselves in to the 
police, rather than risk capture by FDTL.  These police officers 
share the general view that some FDTL members may be planning 
retribution rather than simple detention. 
 
¶8. (U) At approximately 10:45am today, Commissioner Martins and 
Colonel Lere made a joint announcement via radio.  They stated 
that the PNTL and FDTL are working jointly to maintain security 
 
DILI 00000192  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
in Dili, that the situation was mostly calm, and urged the 
population to remain calm.  However, in addition, they announced 
that they are currently attempting to detain all the petitioners 
who were involved in yesterday's demonstrations. 
 
 
¶9. (U) In a briefing to the heads of diplomatic missions today, 
Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta continued to emphasize that 
petitioners were not to blame for the violence, which he said 
had been perpetrated by members of Colimau 2000 who had "seized 
control" of the demonstration.  However, in the same briefing 
Colonel Lere reiterated that FDTL was attempting to arrest and 
detain all of the petitioners.  When asked why the petitioners 
were being targeted for arrest if they were not involved in 
criminal activity, Lere stated that at least one petitioner had 
been observed participating in the Tasitolu firefight, and that 
it was hard to know who had committed crimes and who had not 
until the crimes had been thoroughly investigated. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Both Foreign Minister Ramos Horta and President Xanana 
Gusmao told Ambassador Rees that they would discuss this aspect 
of the matter with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri the need to get 
FDTL out of the law-enforcement business as soon as possible, 
and particularly the possibility that house-to-house searches by 
FDTL members seeking to arrest their ex-colleagues could 
exacerbate the climate of fear and distrust among the general 
population of Dili.  President Gusmao was later overheard 
telling someone on the telephone to "tell the Prime Minister the 
armed forces must be removed today."  At the end of the day the 
Government issued a press release announcing that FDTL would be 
withdrawn from law enforcement activities in Dili and 
surrounding areas (presumably including Tasitolu) by tomorrow, 
April 30.  However, GOET sources report that FDTL will continue 
to patrol Tasitolu and parts of Comoro at least until tomorrow 
morning. 
 
Current situation:  calm but tense 
---------------------------------- 
¶11. (U) Most of Dili is currently calm and has been all day. 
Communications within Dili have been difficult since yesterday 
afternoon as the cell phone system is overloaded.  Calls 
frequently take numerous tries to get through, and text messages 
are only marginally more reliable.  This has added a further 
challenge to obtaining updated information from Embassy 
contacts.  Flights in and out of the airport have continued as 
usual and Mission personnel and others reported normal 
conditions on the road to the airport.  Many shops and gas 
stations are closed, but a few remain open.  However, almost all 
the market stalls remain empty. 
 
¶12. (U) At some time during the night or early morning, the road 
to Tasitolu was completely blocked off by the FDTL.  No one has 
been allowed through and the area is reportedly completely under 
FDTL control.  We have been unable to obtain any reliable 
information regarding developments there.  However, one PNTL 
source in Tasitolu reported this afternoon that the situation 
was calm and under control. 
 
¶13. (U) The most recent information available from the UN and 
other diplomatic missions is that they have taken a similar 
stance as the US Embassy regarding their staff and citizens.  A 
UN security advisory issued this morning stated that the 
situation in Dili is calm but tense, and advised all staff to 
stay in place if safe where they are.  UN staff report no 
further update in their security stance since then. 
 
Thousands seek refuge 
--------------------- 
 
¶14. (U) With access to accurate and up to date news already 
limited in Dili, and with that situation compounded by an 
overloaded cell phone system, the vast majority of the 
population does not have access to good information on 
developments.  As a result, the current situation, while 
serious, has been further blown out of proportion by the Dili 
rumor mill.  Thousands of Dili residents have reportedly left 
their homes to seek refuge elsewhere.  Embassy staff and others 
have seen throughout last night and today people with their 
 
DILI 00000192  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
belongings leaving their neighborhoods, including many 
truckloads of people leaving Dili on roads that lead to other 
parts of the country.  The Don Bosco church compound, in the 
Comoro neighborhood, reportedly has taken in at least 2000 
displaced persons.  Other churches around Dili have accepted 
perhaps another 2000, and several thousand more (presumably 
relatives of police officers and active duty FDTL members 
respectively) are camping out in police stations, the police 
academy compound, and the FDTL headquarters.  Others gathered at 
the United Nations compound and at several Embassies, including 
those of the United States, Indonesia, and New Zealand.  These 
consisted primarily of employees of the UN and of the respective 
Embassies, together with their families. 
 
¶15. (U) Yesterday afternoon and last night a number of U.S. 
Embassy FSN employees and members of their immediate families 
were admitted to the Embassy compound.  As of late last night 
the total number of persons on the Embassy grounds was estimated 
at no more than 100.  Almost all of these were family members of 
FSN guards who had expressed a fear of coming to work and 
leaving their families unprotected.  See EAC cable sent 
concurrently.  In addition, a crowd ranging from a few dozen to 
several hundred has gathered outside the Embassy at various 
times during the last 24 hours.  Some members of the crowd have 
unsuccessfully requested refuge in the Embassy, while others 
apparently believing that it is safer to be in the vicinity of 
the Embassy than in their neighborhoods.  Early this morning 
some Embassy guards inadvertently admitted to the Embassy 
grounds a large number of people who were not Embassy employees 
or immediate family members.  At one point the number of people 
inside the compound may have been 500 or higher.  However, 
Embassy personnel immediately began working to persuade people 
to seek refuge elsewhere, and by day's end the situation both 
inside and outside the Embassy has been substantially resolved. 
At about President Gusmao came to the Embassy at around 2:00 pm 
today and advised the people in front that the situation was 
safe and that they should depart.  Ambassador Rees gave several 
similar speeches to those inside the compound during the course 
of the afternoon.  The President then went to the Catholic 
Church in Motael (about a kilometer away from the Embassy) and 
was able to convince the Church to take in everyone outside of 
the Embassy as well as everyone who had taken refuge in the 
compound.  Embassy and USAID personnel worked with GOET 
officials to ensure that food, water, sanitary facilities, and 
rudimentary sleeping accommodations were brought to Motael.  As 
of late afternoon, most of the people who had been in the 
compound had departed for Motael or for their homes. 
Approximately 200 remain, almost all of them Embassy employees 
or immediate family members.  Emboffs have made clear to these 
people that they will be expected to depart the Embassy compound 
by tomorrow morning, and they appear to have accepted this 
decision. 
 
¶16. (U) Meanwhile, a handful of American citizens residing in 
the affected neighborhoods have been in contact with Conoff.  In 
one circumstance, Conoff last night arranged to evacuate a 
family that was residing in the Tasitolu area that is currently 
cut off from the rest of Dili by FDTL blockade.  Other Amcits 
have expressed concern, but relayed that for now they plan to 
remain in situ as they have not been directly threatened or 
targeted and, in consult with Conoff, have assessed that it is 
most likely safer to remain in a secure building than to attempt 
to depart via roads where unrest may be continuing.  Most Amcits 
in Dili, however, are residing in neighborhoods that have not 
been directly affected.  All U.S. citizen employees of the 
Embassy and other USG agencies in Timor are in frequent contact 
with the Embassy and consider themselves to be safe in their 
homes. 
REES