Australia 'not part of Alkatiri fall'
Yeah and Howard doesn't know Georgie, his Neocons and Blair, Right.
June 29, 2006
AUSTRALIA had no hand in the ousting of former East Timor prime minister Mari Alkatiri, Treasurer Peter Costello said today, as continuing violence threatened to tear the fledgling nation apart.
Mr Alkatiri quit the post this week and his supporters have accused Canberra of being behind his fall.
The capital Dili yesterday sank back into fear and violence when gangs hit the streets, angered by provocative television footage of Mr Alkatiri blaming his opponents for the country's political and ethnic turmoil.
Mr Costello today said Australia had no role in the events that cost Mr Alkatiri his job.
"It's absolutely false that Australia has intervened in any way in the political line-up in East Timor," he said on Channel 9.
"Australia, by the way, has troops that are serving, in difficult conditions, the East Timorese people, keeping law and order on the streets.
"Those troops are there at the invitation of the president and the then prime minister Mr Alkatiri. So they were asked to be there.
"To claim that they've engaged in domestic politics is absolutely false and I can say that for a fact."
Mr Costello appealed to the East Timorese to sort out their differences peacefully.
"Of course, there'll be differences, but you resolve them through the ballot box, you don't take up arms," he said.
"The Australian troops are there at the invitation of all parties and they're protecting all parties, but in the end it's the East Timorese people themselves that have to resolve their differences in a peaceful way.
"There is no point in violence, it will not achieve anything - least of all the kind of East Timor that the East Timorese want and we want to see too, peaceful and strong."
Prosecutors want to question Mr Alkatiri tomorrow over allegations that he set up and armed a secret hit squad to target his political opponents.
He has denied the claims, but they were enough to help push him into quitting on Monday
Link Here
June 29, 2006
AUSTRALIA had no hand in the ousting of former East Timor prime minister Mari Alkatiri, Treasurer Peter Costello said today, as continuing violence threatened to tear the fledgling nation apart.
Mr Alkatiri quit the post this week and his supporters have accused Canberra of being behind his fall.
The capital Dili yesterday sank back into fear and violence when gangs hit the streets, angered by provocative television footage of Mr Alkatiri blaming his opponents for the country's political and ethnic turmoil.
Mr Costello today said Australia had no role in the events that cost Mr Alkatiri his job.
"It's absolutely false that Australia has intervened in any way in the political line-up in East Timor," he said on Channel 9.
"Australia, by the way, has troops that are serving, in difficult conditions, the East Timorese people, keeping law and order on the streets.
"Those troops are there at the invitation of the president and the then prime minister Mr Alkatiri. So they were asked to be there.
"To claim that they've engaged in domestic politics is absolutely false and I can say that for a fact."
Mr Costello appealed to the East Timorese to sort out their differences peacefully.
"Of course, there'll be differences, but you resolve them through the ballot box, you don't take up arms," he said.
"The Australian troops are there at the invitation of all parties and they're protecting all parties, but in the end it's the East Timorese people themselves that have to resolve their differences in a peaceful way.
"There is no point in violence, it will not achieve anything - least of all the kind of East Timor that the East Timorese want and we want to see too, peaceful and strong."
Prosecutors want to question Mr Alkatiri tomorrow over allegations that he set up and armed a secret hit squad to target his political opponents.
He has denied the claims, but they were enough to help push him into quitting on Monday
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 4:35 AM
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