Timorese prime minister asks bishop to mediate talks with rebel head

Published: 2007-03-15

DILI, East Timor (CNS) -- Timorese Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta has asked Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva of Dili to mediate negotiations between the government and a rebel leader. Ramos-Horta said the rebel leader, Maj. Alfredo Alves Reinado, "has expressed his willingness to dialogue with the government should the Catholic Church be the mediator." He told journalists March 13 that he met with Bishop da Silva the previous day "to explain the government's stand" on the issues. UCA News, an Asian church news agency, reported on the prime minister's statements March 14. A series of protests in Dili last May evolved into widespread violence after then-Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri dismissed 600 of the 1,400 members of the army, who were protesting what they said was widespread discrimination against troops from the western part of the country. Reinado, a key figure in the revolt that plunged East Timor into chaos, broke out of a jail near Dili in August with 56 other prisoners, some of whom were charged in incidents of looting and burning during the May violence.

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