East Timor Imperilled
Whilst members of East Timor’s ruling Fretelin Party will consider their leadership options this week at the party’s national congress in Dili, two of Australia’s amphibious naval transport ships are moored just 45 minutes out from the nation’s capital. Prime Minister John Howard said the pre-positioning of the Manoora and Kanimbla vessels was necessary if Australia were to be called on for help in the case of further riots breaking out in the capital. Speaking from Washington, Mr Howard outlined Australia’s role as the leading regional power, briefing US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the “arc of instability” which stretches from East Timor and the Indonesian archipelago to the islands of the South Pacific.