East Timor President Threatens To Resign
Josephine Roque - All Headline News Staff Writer Dili, East Timor (AHN) - The political crisis deepened as East Timor's president proposed resigning after the ruling party denied the exit of the prime minister. The prime minister is widely blamed for gang warfare that have left at least 30 people dead and displaced 150,000 people from their homes. The AP reports that one of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri's close allies was escorted by foreign troops to court for allegedly providing arms to a hit squad tasked with silencing the opposition. According to many East Timorese, Alkatiri's decision to fire 600 disgruntled soldiers resulted in the subsequent violence. The prime minister held emergency talks with members of his Fretilin party, which control 55 of the 88 seats in the country's Parliament, after President Xanana Gusmao said he must resign or be fired. "If the situation does not change by early tomorrow morning, I will send an official letter of resignation to Parliament," Gusmao said in a speech. "Fretilin's leaders want to kill democracy in East Timor."
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