CHRONOLOGY-Flashpoints of political unrest in East Timor
Source: Reuters
March 6 (Reuters) - East Timor's capital was quiet but tense on Tuesday, a day after thousands of angry supporters of East Timor rebel leader Alfredo Reinado burnt tyres and threw stones to protest against a raid by international troops on the fugitive's hideout. Here are some of the country's key milestones since independence in 2002: - May 20, 2002: East Timor becomes an independent nation, after an historic 1999 vote ends Indonesia's post-1975 occupation. Ex-guerilla leader and independence hero Xanana Gusmao becomes President. - Dec 4: Capital Dili is under curfew after rioting blamed on regrouping Indonesian-backed militiamen. Several people are shot dead in clashes and prime minister's house is burned down. - May 19, 2003: United Nations extends mandate of 3,800-strong U.N. Mission in East Timor (UNMISET) for a year. - March 9, 2005: Indonesia and East Timor launch joint truth commission to address 1999's bloody rampage which saw about 1,000 killed, mostly by pro-Jakarta militia. - April 28: U.N. Security Council votes to keep scaled-back U.N. presence in East Timor for another year. - Feb 8, 2006: Hundreds of soldiers, many of them former independence fighters, go on strike over pay and alleged discrimination. - March 16: Premier and military chief Mari Alkatiri sacks 600 of the country's 1,400-strong army on charges of desertion. The move inflames the country's east-west divide and unleashes months of chaos which see an estimated 100,000 people displaced and at least 20 killed. - May 25: The first of 2,500 peacekeepers from Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Portugal arrive to quell violence. - July 10: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta sworn in as Prime Minister, two weeks after Alkatiri steps down amid accusations he was responsible for the crisis. - Aug. 30, 2006: Major Alfredo Reinado, one of the figureheads of the May revolt, walks out of a Dili jail with 50 other inmates, embarrassing security forces. - March 4, 2007: Reinado escapes a raid by foreign troops on his hideout, but four people are killed in the ensuing gunbattle. - March 5: Thousands of people take to the streets, burning tyres and blocking roads, to protest against the attempt to capture Reinado. Source: Reuters
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