East Timor President Xanana Gusmao on Monday urged warring factions to end 
the violence surging through the country's capital, while ex-soldiers whose 
rebellion triggered the mayhem offered peace talks. 
Gusmao, the most respected figure in East Timor, addressed a crowd of 
demonstrators outside government offices in Dili where Prime Minister Mari 
Alkatiri and his Cabinet held emergency meetings to find a way to end the 
crisis. 
Witnesses reported mobs setting more houses ablaze Monday, though the 
situation eased since the weekend, when gangs armed with machetes, clubs and 
spears rampaged through the city in violence that has threatened to tear the 
young country apart. At least 27 people have been killed in the past week. 
Maj. Agosto De Araujo, a leader of the disgruntled soldiers, said a rebel 
envoy on Sunday had delivered a pledge to Gusmao that they were willing to join 
peace talks. 
"We are ready to be called back to the negotiating table at any time," De 
Araujo told The Associated Press by telephone. 
The unrest was triggered by the March firing of 600 disgruntled soldiers from 
the 1,400-member army. After staging deadly riots last month, the sacked troops 
fled the seaside capital, setting up positions in the surrounding hills and 
threatening guerrilla war if they were not reinstated. 
The dispute has since spread to the general population, with rival gangs 
battling each other and attacking neighborhoods despite patrolling by Australian 
peacekeepers. Initially tentative Australian troops seemed to be getting tougher 
Monday, rounding up gangs of youths and arresting ringleaders. 
Australian Defense Minister Brenden Nelson said the troops needed stronger 
powers if they were expected to break up a repeat of the violence that has 
flared in recent days. 
Meanwhile, Gusmao, who holds a largely ceremonial role in the country, 
emerged from the Cabinet meetings to address a crowd of anti-Alkatiri 
protesters, telling them to go home and urging an end to the violence. 
"The situation is better now," Gusmao said. "We will continue to discuss it." 
Alkatiri has become a figure of blame for the crisis. He has said the 
violence, which has split the country's tiny military forces and exposed 
factionalism and disarray within the government, is a plot to overthrow him. 
The relative calm Monday follows days of gunfire, arson, and fights between 
assailants armed with machetes and clubs in the capital. Tens of thousands of 
residents have fled the city, and the United Nations and diplomatic missions 
have evacuated nonessential personnel. 
The U.N. special representative in Dili said more peacekeepers may be needed. 
Australia has some 1,300 soldiers and police in East Timor, the vast bulk of the 
international force. 
East Timor voted for independence in a U.N.-sponsored referendum in 1999 to 
end 24 often brutal years of Indonesian rule, triggering mayhem by militias 
linked to the Indonesian army. After an interim of United Nations 
administration, East Timor declared itself independent in 
2002.