Prejudices Fuel Conflict in East Timor

Portuguese police officers stand at a government warehouse after it was looted, in Dili, East Timor, Friday, June 2, 2006. Around 1000 people, waiting for government food handouts, raided government warehouses in East Timor's capital on Friday, stealing computers, office chairs and anything else they could find, when they discovered the warehouse they had been standing in front of for hours was empty. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati) (Firdia Lisnawati - AP)

DILI, East Timor -- The violence that swept East Timor in 1999 was a clear-cut conflict between mostly unarmed civilians eager for independence and vengeful militias backed by Indonesia, the former occupier.

Nearly seven years later, the unrest that has ravaged the capital of independent East Timor in past days stems from a murky mix of political rivalry, economic stagnation and prejudices festering since Indonesia's brutal, 24-year hold on the former Portuguese colony.

Two broad factions _ one tied to the country's east, the other based in the west _ have emerged among the players in East Timor's recent turmoil, who include the military and police, street gangs, government ministers and civilian victims. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes, and Australian-led peacekeepers are trying to keep order.

Those from the east, or Lorosae, which means "where the sun rises" in the local Tetum language, are said to be die-hard supporters or veterans of the independence fight. Among them are old, grizzled guerrillas who spent many years in mountain hideouts, mostly in the east.

Those from the west of the country, or Loromonu, which means "where the sun sets" in Tetum, are said to have poor credentials in the separatist movement.

The pro-Indonesian militiamen who laid waste to East Timor after it voted for self-rule in 1999 were recruited heavily in the west, which borders the Indonesian region of West Timor. East Timor became independent in 2002 after an interim U.N. administration.

But many people in the western part of the country opposed the Indonesian occupation as much as easterners, and held leadership positions in the separatist movement. Any differences had rarely been a source of conflict in the past.

The situation was once similar to the way California and New York look at each other: some good-natured jibes here and there, but nothing more.

"If you look at the history of this country, there was never a war fought between regions," said Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta, a Nobel Peace Prize winner. "This whole east-west division, it's only a geographic expression."

The spark for the recent violence was a rebellion by 600 dismissed members of the 1,400-member army who had complained about discrimination by their commanders, led by Taur Matan Ruak, a former guerrilla who mostly operated in the east. The rebels, many of whom are from the west, fled to the hills.

The police, some of whom served under Indonesian authority, are also perceived as members of the western camp, though suspicions about their loyalty were never substantiated. Last week, 10 of them were shot dead as they tried to surrender to loyalist soldiers.

Rivalries at top levels of East Timor's fledgling government also appear to have fueled tension. Rogerio Lobato, who resigned as interior minister on Thursday, had formed special police units that some East Timorese viewed as an attempt to bolster his personal power.