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Emergency powers for Timor troopsPresident Gusmao takes control of security forces
Masked gang members gather in Dili, on Tuesday. RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- East Timor President Xanana Gusmao has assumed control of security forces and the Interior Ministry after marauders stole evidence on killings that followed the young nation's break from Indonesia. Gusmao, an independence figure and former guerrilla leader, announced the emergency measures after mobs broke into the attorney general's office and stole the files. Gusmao fought against Indonesia's occupation of East Timor which began in 1975 and ended in 1999. Attorney General Longuinhos Monteiro said it would be a struggle to rebuild those cases. One of the looted files was that of General Wiranto, former chief of Indonesia's armed forces, who was indicted for human rights abuses. Gusmao, whom Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri had accused of ineffectively handling the current crisis, sacked both the defense and interior ministers Tuesday as he tried to exercise more control in ending the violence, which began after Alkatiri's decision to fire 600 army soldiers in March. He and Gusmao, who heads the nation's Council of State, have been at political odds. More buildings were torched in East Timor's capital, Dili, on Tuesday, and thousands of people formed long lines to receive rice from relief workers. Violence has engulfed the capital, killing at least 27 people and wounding 100 others in the past week. The Red Cross says 40,000 residents have been displaced. At a warehouse being used as a food distribution center, Australian troops struggled to keep order as thousands of residents tussled with each other to get bags of rice, The Associated Press reports. "We need more food. The situation is terrible," said Daniel Afonso, who fled his destroyed home with his parents and four children and is staying at a church refugee center. "It is dangerous to go out looking for food and the shops are closed." What began as an army mutiny has descended into street fights by rival gangs -- from East and West Timor -- who roamed the streets. CNN Correspondent Stan Grant said political conflicts and ethnic divisions were contributing to the problems. Grant said many displaced people were staying at the airport; some go home during the day, but many are homeless after their houses were torched. "It's a very volatile mix and a confusing picture," Grant said. Australian troops have been joined by soldiers from New Zealand and Malaysia -- and soon from Portugal -- to help quell the violence. The East Timorese government said it was authorizing international troops to detain suspects for 72 hours, not just disarm them. "If you look at the number of weapons that have already been taken off the street -- between 300 and 400 high-powered rifles, handguns, shotguns and grenades as well as swords and machetes -- in (the last) three days," said Brig. Gen. Michael Slater, Australian task force commander. Jose Luis Guterres, East Timor ambassador to the United States and United Nations, said the government's goal was to end the violence. Gusmao said the emergency measures would take effect immediately and be valid for 30 days, The Associated Press reports. U.S. officials on Tuesday ordered the families of U.S. Embassy employees, and non-emergency embassy workers, to leave the country, and urged other Americans there to do likewise. "The Department of State is concerned by the threat to the personal safety of Americans in East Timor due to continued communal and politically motivated violence," the agency said. Earlier, Jose Ramos Horta, the country's Nobel peace prize-winning foreign minister, acknowledged the government had "failed miserably" to prevent the unrest. He directed the blame towards Prime Minister Alkatiri, though officials present at Tuesday's meeting told The Associated Press that Alkatiri would be staying for the time being. East Timor's latest troubles began in March, when the government fired 600 soldiers who had gone on strike against alleged discrimination in the military. The soldiers left Dili for the countryside, where they set up armed camps. East Timor, formally known as the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, became independent in 2002. It declared independence in 1975 after four centuries as a Portuguese colony, but Indonesian troops invaded just days later and ruled it for the next 24 years. East Timor broke away from Indonesia amid a wave of violent protests that followed the 1999 referendum on independence. A U.N. transitional administration ruled the territory for nearly three years before full independence in May 2002. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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