Some violence in East Timor being coordinated "behind the scenes", officials say

Photo: Some violence in East Timor being coordinated "behind the scenes", officials say

"There has been an element of opportunistic violence in there. There has also been good signs that a number of these actions have been coordinated behind the scenes," Brig. Mick Slater told reporters.

He did not identify who might be coordinating the violence.

Slater also said the conditions were not yet right to bring rival parties in the crisis together for peace talks.

Slater traveled Friday to the hillside hideout of Lt. Cmdr. Alfredo Reinado, the former officer whose rebellion helped trigger the crisis, for talks.

Reinado, who led 600 soldiers in clashes with government forces last month after being fired by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri in March, has demanded that Alkatiri leave or be removed from office, the AP reports.

Those clashes are paved the way for Dili's descent into anarchy, in which gangs have fought openly on the streets, torched and looted buildings for a week. Some 2,000 foreign troops were deployed to restore security.

AM