DILI (Reuters) - East Timor sent over 1,000 police and soldiers to sweep hills and raid homes on Friday in pursuit of rebels involved in last week's assassination attempts on the country's president and prime minister.
Rebel soldiers raided Jose Ramos-Horta's home last Monday,seriously wounding the president during a gunfight.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped unhurt in aseparate attack, ordered the country's military and policeforces to form a joint command to arrest followers of rebelleader Alfredo Reinado.
Over 1,000 police officers and army soldiers paraded thestreets of the capital, Dili, on Friday before embarking on thehunt for rebel soldiers in nearby hills.
"We promise we won't betray the confidence given to us. Wepromise we will restore peace and stability," military chiefTaur Matan Ruak told a news conference.
Arrest warrants have been issued against 17 peoplesuspected of involvement in the attack, including GastaoSalsinha who took command of rebel soldiers after Reinado waskilled during the attack on Ramos-Horta.
Asia's youngest nation has been unable to achieve stabilitysince hard-won independence in 2002. The army tore apart alongregional lines in 2006, when about 600 soldiers were sacked,triggering factional violence that killed 37 people and drove150,000 from their homes.
Foreign troops were sent to restore order in the formerPortuguese colony of about one million people, which gainedfull independence from Indonesia after a U.N.-sponsored vote in1999 that was marred by violence.
(Reporting by Tito Belo, Writing by Adhityani Arga, Editingby Sugita Katyal and Sanjeev Miglani)
