SYDNEY, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Australia will increase the number of troops it will leave deployed in Timor-Leste because of continuing security concerns.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said a main concern was military and police weaponry and ammunition that remain unaccounted for since political violence erupted in Timor-Leste, or east Timor, in April and May, according to The Australian newspaper.
Those missing weapons, combined with the mass jail break of rebels and other prisoners from Becora jail in Dili recently had created a volatile environment, the report said.
"It's one of the reasons why I think there needs to be a more robust military presence here than that proposed by the United Nations," Downer said according to The Australian. " It could be a situation where there is an attack mounted against East Timorese by people who have access to these sorts of weapons. You could have a situation like that which would be far too difficult fo the police to handle and the (Australian) military would have to sort the problem out."
The Australian Wednesday said Downer made the comments in Dili, the Timor-Leste capital, on Sunday after meetings with government officials.
Australia sent 1,200 soldiers to Timor Leste to help maintain law and order amid violence sparked by a rebellion by army soldiers over alleged regional and ethnic discrimination. Other countries also contributed soldiers as part of an international force.
Since a restoration of relative calm Australia has been slowly withdrawing troops and but had planned to leave a force in place of 350 men. That number will now be doubled.
