17-08-2006 11:11:00. Fonte LUSA. Notícia SIR-8261697 Temas:

East Timor: Sporadic incidents mar otherwise 'tranquil' Dili - GNR commander

Dili, Aug. 17 (Lusa) - Portuguese paramilitary police fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of youths that surrounded and stoned a patrol vehicle in the East Timorese capital, GNR Capt.

Gonçalo Carvalho said Thursday.

The commander of the 127-strong Republican National Guard (GNR) force told a new conference that no injuries occurred during the incident Wednesday.

Capt. Carvalho said the GNR had been called to intervene in 55 separate incidents during the past week, including the arrest for theft of three youths.

Communal gangs were "increasingly organized", he said, adding, however, that the deployment of international peacekeepers in Dili since late May had returned the city to "a climate of tranquility, allowing all activities to take place with normality".

The situation would "improve significantly", Capt. Garvalho said, with the expected arrival within weeks of an UN-mandated police and military force.

Portugal, he added, was "ready to integrate" the future UN force, whose approval by the Security Council was expected on Friday.

Capt. Carvalho also said that GNR personnel were taking part in communal "reconciliation" programs and that the contingent's emergency medical team was participating in actions both in and outside Dili.

SAS/JCS.

Lusa

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