ETimor requests 33.5 million dollars from donors

3/29/08

DILI (AFP) ­ East Timor's government on Saturday appealed to international donors for 33.5 million dollars in aid for the impoverished nation during a meeting here.

Twenty-three donor countries and the government held two days of talks in Dili to discuss aid to the half-island nation.

"It is critical for the government to receive continuous financial support from the international community during this crucial 2008 transition period," Vice Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres said in a closing speech.

Guterres said some of the funds would go to emergency aid to internally displaced peoples and for food assistance. He also said the government had allocated 15 million dollars from its own resources to address humanitarian issues.

East Timor has been rocked by troubles in recent years.

In 2006, more than 100,000 people were estimated to have fled their homes amid sudden bloodshed that followed unrest.

In February, renegade soldiers attacked President Jose Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao in separate assaults. Gusmao was unscathed, but Ramos-Horta was shot and spent weeks recovering in an Australian hospital.