NZ troops head straight into Dili hot spots

DILI - Another contingent of New Zealand troops arrived in East Timor today and are likely to be given the job of patrolling the streets of the hottest part of the capital Dili.

About 40 soldiers touched down at about 1pm NZ time. After landing in Dili the troops left the plane in searing heat, fully kitted out with packs on their backs and guns in their hands, ready for action.

Another plane is due to arrive later today.

With the international forces under ever-increasing pressure to show results faster, the NZ force is likely to fill the void in the western block of the city.

They come at a politically sensitive moment, just as the Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato and Defence Minister De Roque Rodriguez were dumped after crisis talks involving the top government and civil leaders.

President Xanana Gusmao assumed emergency powers late last night but there were more cases of looting and burning overnight, in defiance of the 30-day state of emergency declared by President Gusmao.

More than 130 New Zealand troops have been holed up near Darwin in northern Australia waiting to get into the action.

In the western part of the city yesterday, NZPA witnessed gangs of armed youths burning down houses with no apparent regard for the nearby armed personnel carrier of Australian Defence Force troops.

The group appeared to be jeering -- knowing that while the terms of engagement meant the troops could detain them, no-one was actually being held long in custody with no working police force.

The head of the international taskforce, ADF Brigadier Mick Slater, was grilled at a press conference yesterday about the lack of security on the streets and the reports of troops not stopping mobs.

NZ Defence Force wing commander Craig Basher sat by his side. The New Zealand platoon of 31 already in East Timor are currently monitoring the road block into the city, preventing trouble makers or weapons getting in.

Brigadier Slater said the troops were doing what they could.

"There is no doubt that we will have good days and bad days," he said. Monday was the best day so far and Tuesday the second best, he added.

At least four houses were ablaze in the early evening and trouble usually intensified at night.

Brigadier Slater said no more troops were being sent in. "Between the Malaysians, the New Zealanders and the Australians that are here now, we have brought the forces that we need... to bring a calm and secure environment to the city of Dili."

The ADF have secured the road into the city, the airport and other vital points and it is likely the New Zealanders, especially the Maori troops who have a good reputation at connecting with local people, will end up patrolling the western block.

International troops have managed to remove factional groups of local army and police, and NZDF troops took part in an operation where police were disarmed and army members taken to a less intense area.

- NZPA, NEWSTALK ZB