Ruling Fretilin refuses to endorse planned East Timor government

Former President Xanana Gusmao arrives at at Presidential Palace to meet President Ramos Horta

A month after an inconclusive general election, President Jose Ramos Horta used his constitutional powers to break the impasse by asking Gusmao and his coalition partners to form a government.

Monday's announcement sparked a fresh round of arson attacks and violence from disgruntled Fretilin supporters.

"We regard it as a political and illegal decision, and as such, Fretilin will not work with this government," party leader and former prime minister Mari Alkatiri told reporters in the capital city Dili.

In the June 30 general election, Fretilin won 21 seats in the 65- member parliament. Gusmao's brand-new CNRT came second with 18 seats and formed a coalition with three other parties to give it 37 seats.

Alkatiri, who was ousted in June last year in civil unrest following his sacking of 600 soldiers, argued that he should be the new prime minister because Fretilin had more seats than any other party.

Fretilin saw its share of the vote slide to 29 per cent from the 57 per cent in 2001 but is still a powerful force because the civil service is stacked with Fretilin supporters.

Independence hero Gusmao's shift from the mostly ceremonial job of president to be the new prime minister is popular abroad.

Australia, which has 1,000 troops looking after the security of the tiny nation, welcomed his elevation, with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer urging Fretilin to accept the outcome of an election that all parties had agreed was free and fair.

The United States endorsed Gusmao, with State Department spokesman Sean McCormack appealing for East Timor's 1 million people to back Gusmao, who will be sworn in on Wednesday.|

East Timor was an Indonesian province for 24 years before it gained independence in 2002. The Indonesian invasion in 1975 ended 400 years of Portuguese rule.

//(Deutsche Presse-Agentur/DPA)