Security Update

First, my apologies for not posting in a while. It has been a busy two weeks and the security situation in Dili has become fluid - more difficult to predict and understand. In the last two weeks, Timor Leste has been hit from all sides - a second jail break, a serious region-wide rice shortage, drought, the killing of two Timorese IDPs by Australian Defense Force personnel, and the seizure of 25 weapons from a border post by the fugitive rebel leader Alfredo Reinado (see below photos: top from this week, bottom with the much-discussed rocket-launcher from a month ago).

There are so many moving parts, especially when counting the gang and East/West violence from earlier this year, that to write about it has felt a bit overwhelming.

Over the last two days the violence has been the worst and most indiscriminate since I have been here. Friends have been been hit by stones while driving, and last night houses were burned near where other friends live. They found rubber bullets - used by Portuguese or Malaysian forces - in their backyard in the morning. There has been serious talk of evacuations and both Australia and the United States have increased their travel warnings.

Today I pulled together my "grab bag," a small backpack with travel documents, clothes, and a good book in case I need to leave. I am receiving good information (much of it in text messages, see photo) and NDI remains a comfortable, safe place to be.

The major concern for the next 72 hours is that violence in Dili will flare up in response to news of the large-scale raid in Same on Reinado's camp by the Australian Defense Forces (ADF). Four Timorese were killed during the operation and Reinado escaped. Reinado is a Robin Hood figure for many here, especially in the West, and with the breakdown of relations following six months of negotiations between Reinado and the government, it seems unlikely that this issue will be resolved without more violence. Problems today have included stone throwing and illegal roadblocks.



In the meantime, I am sitting tight.

For more information on what is going on, please check out the links at right. The news link includes international coverage while Xanana Republic and Dili-gence both offer good local analysis.

I will keep everyone posted and call home on Sunday night (Monday morning in Dili). I am thinking of everyone and send all my love from this troubled country for which I have come to care so much.