East Timor:leader of rebel soldiers demands prime minister resign

Photo: East Timor:leader of rebel soldiers demands prime minister resign

Speaking to The Associated Press in his hillside redoubt outside the smoldering capital, Dili, Maj. Alfredo Reinado also said he was willing to die for his cause.

Reinado, who led a band of 600 soldiers fired for insubordination into clashes with loyalist security forces, blamed Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri for East Timor's current crisis and said it wouldn't be over until he was gone from office.

"Alkatiri has to resign and go to court for all the crimes he ordered," Reinado told AP, accusing the prime minister of telling troops to open fire on civilian demonstrators who supported the rebels.

Four people were killed and dozens injured when a demonstration turned into riots in the capital, Dili, in April.

Clashes between the rebels and security forces preceded Dili's descent into chaos in the past week, with machete-wielding gangs fighting in the streets, looting and setting fires. More than 2,000 foreign troops are trying to restore order, the AP reports.

Alkatiri fired the soldiers after they went on strike, claiming discrimination because they were from East Timor's western regions close to the border with Indonesia, the country's former occupier.

The dispute escalated when the rebels threatened guerrilla war if their concerns weren't addressed. Alkatari ordered an investigation, but has maintained he was right to sack the rebels.

The clashes led to a security vacuum that allowed room for the broader street violence.

Troops from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal were called in, and President Xanana Gusmao stepped in an assumed control of the country's security forces earlier this week, and troops from Australia

Reinado denied he should be held responsible for the crisis.