Timor PM says no excuses for inertia in new cabinet

DILI - East Timor's new cabinet was sworn in on Friday, and the prime minister promised it would quickly get down to the business of restoring security and confidence after months of violence in Asia's newest nation.

Jose Ramos-Horta took over as prime minister after Mari Alkatiri, the leader of majority party Fretilin, resigned the premiership over weeks of clashes, looting and arson in which at least 20 people died and 100,000 were displaced.

The violence flared after Alkatiri sacked about 600 members of the 1400-strong army when they protested against discrimination tied to regional origins.

A shaky peace was imposed only after an Australian-led international peacekeeping force landed, and many East Timorese remain in shelters.

"All around us there are thousands of internally displaced persons who are still afraid of returing to their homes," President Xanana Gusmao, who appointed Ramos-Horta, said in a message marking the swearing in.

Ramos-Horta, previously the foreign minister, said "national security, economic strength and social stability" were his goals.

"This government is not going to find excuses for inertia," he added in a statement.

Probably the best known name internationally in his cabinet is the new foreign minister, Jose Luis Guterres, who has been East Timor's ambassador to the United Nations and was discussed as a possible prime minister before Ramos-Horta was named.

Ana Pessoa, Ramos-Horta's ex-wife, who had also been mentioned for the top spot and served in the old cabinet, will be minister for state administration in the new one.

Ramos-Horta himself will keep the defence portfolio he had assumed during the latter stages of the violence. His two deputy prime ministers Estanislau da Silva and Rui Araujo do double duty as agriculture and health minister respectively, positions they held in the old cabinet.

Da Silva is a Fretilin stalwart and Araujo an independent. Fretilin, which has 55 seats of the 88 total in parliament, is well represented in the government, and a number of ministers had served in top or deputy spots previously.

"It reflects the depth of talent already available within the ministerial ranks," Ramos-Horta said, adding "nine months is a short time to implement my government's plan of action and the less changes the better".

He was referring to the period before general elections next year may bring in a new government.

President Gusmao said in his statement those elections were ultimately "the appropriate means to resolve the conflicts peacefully and to overcome the crisis".

But he also said without elaborating that reconciliation required justice over recent wrongdoing.

One former cabinet member is now being investigated over supplying arms to civilian militia in the recent violence, and former prime minister Alkatiri has been accused of playing a role in that, a charge he denies.

Economically East Timor, with a million people, is one of the world's poorest countries and has massive unemployment, although in decades to come it is due to receive billions of dollars from energy resources that are now being developed.

- REUTERS