East Timor's rebel soldiers seek reasons to disarm

The commander of East Timor's army rebels said today he's willing to disarm if presented with strong reasons for doing so by President Xanana Gusmao.

Major Alfredo Reinado leads about 600 soldiers sacked from the East Timor Defence forces by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri in April after they complained of discrimination.

Major Reinado has also repeated his call for East Timor's embattled prime minister to resign.

He says he doesn't have any intention of overthrowing the prime minister but "he has to step down for the things he has done for the nation, he has failed in his leadership and he has caused a lot of problems for the country. He has to step down to respond to that."

Major Reinado has accused Dr Alkatiri of ordering illegal killings and says the prime minister must stand down and face an official investigation.

Ministers resign

On Thursday two members of Mari Alkatiri's government resigned taking responsibility for the crisis currently facing their country.

Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato and Defence Minister Roque Rodriguez, the two ministers responsible for security in East Timor formally stepped down.

Interior Minister Rogerio Lobato said that he was not a scapegoat and that as the person responsible for the ministry he had to take responsibility.

The minister who is a close ally of Prime Minister said Mr Alkatari should not have to assume the same responsibility.

"The main purpose of all this conflicts is to topple the government, this is clear and they have resorted to not very democratic means. They have resorted to violence, to death."

Gang violence remains

The commander of the Australian forces in East Timor, Brigadier Mick Slater, says gang violence in Dili remains the biggest problem facing his troops.

But he says his men are close to finding who is behind the trouble.

"There is definitely two types of violence out on the streets at the moment," he said.

"There is the opportunistic stuff and that is something that we're able to deal with quickly. There is on the other hand a good degree of coordination between some of the gangs and it is quite likely that they're using radios and also mobile phones. But slowly and incrementally we're getting on top of all of them."

More than 2,500 Australian and 200 New Zealand troops are in East Timor to quell the unrest.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA