E. Timor Premier ‘Ready to Resign’

East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Bin Amude Alkatiri, blamed for violence that claimed at least 30 lives and prompted the intervention of international peacekeeping troops, said today that he was prepared to step down.

“I declare I am ready to resign from my position as prime minister,” Alkatiri told reporters following weeks of protests over his mishandling of a political crisis that led to armed battles between the army and police.

Alkatiri also has been accused of authorizing the arming of hit squads to silence his opponents, a charge he denies.

Alkatiri made the announcement at a news conference a day after Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta resigned his dual posts as foreign and defense minister to protest the refusal of the ruling party to select a new government leader.

There had been widespread protests and numerous calls for Alkatiri to step down after he dismissed nearly half the army and called in other troops loyal to him to crack down on his critics in Dili, the capital.

But Alkatiri had appeared to be hanging on Sunday after receiving the renewed endorsement of the ruling Fretilin Party, which controls parliament.

Ramos-Horta, suggested as a possible successor as prime minister, resigned hours after the Fretilin vote, saying he no longer wanted to be part of a government that included Alkatiri. Transportation Minister Ovidio Amaral also quit.

East Timor has been racked by violence for months following Alkatiri’s action against the army. At least 30 people died and hundreds of houses were torched before an international peacekeeping force led by Australia arrived last month to restore order. More than 100,000 civilians, a tenth of the country’s population, have fled to refugee camps to escape the violence.

Among those who died were 10 unarmed police officers who were gunned down by soldiers May 25 even though the officers were under the protection of the U.N., which had brokered a truce between the army and police.

Among those calling for Alkatiri to quit were East Timorese President Jose Alexandre Gusmao, a former resistance leader popularly known by his nom de guerre, Xanana. Gusmao said last week he would resign if Alkatiri did not, but later backed away from his threat.

Gusmao is far more popular than Alkatiri, who took refuge in Mozambique during East Timor’s guerrilla war for independence and is one of the few Muslims in this largely Roman Catholic nation. But under the young country’s constitution, the presidency is largely ceremonial and most power is in the hands of the prime minister.

East Timor, which lies in the Indonesian archipelago north of Australia, was a Portuguese colony for hundreds of years before being invaded by Indonesia in 1975 and formally annexed the next year.

The province voted overwhelmingly for independence in 1999, prompting pro-Indonesian militias to go on a rampage, killing 1,000 people and destroying most of East Timor’s buildings.

The United Nations helped rebuild the country but ended most assistance last year.

Ramos-Horta, who won the 1996 peace prize for his efforts to win East Timor’s independence from Indonesia, had served as foreign minister since the country became independent in 2002. He took on the additional role of defense minister last month after his predecessor, Roque Rodriguez, was forced to step down for his role in the crisis.

Ex-Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato, who also was forced out last month, was subsequently arrested on charges that he armed civilian militia members to silence political opponents.