Timor Leste, formerly East Timor, looked until recently to be a model example of nation-building, following the withdrawal of United Nations peacekeeping troops who had helped consolidate the new state when it gained independence from Indonesia in 1999. But in a few short weeks it has become prey to widespread violence and dispersals of its population after 594 soldiers were dismissed from the army. Australian, Portuguese, Malaysian and New Zealand troops now control the capital Dili and a frantic effort is under way to reconcile political factions and agree a further round of international involvement.
At the UN headquarters in New York this week its secretary general Kofi Annan said he was concerned that UN troops left Timor before they had completed their task. As a result another UN mission may now be necessary. That would take at least six months to arrange and in the meantime the ad-hoc force will continue its work.
There is tension between the state's institutions and office-holders on how to calm this eruption of violence and displacement. President Xanana Gusmao is more popular, but has less power than the prime minister Mari Alketiri, whose Fretilin party led the struggle for independence. Mr Alketiri is widely blamed for encouraging political sectarianism in the army and police, which culminated in these dismissals. The problems arose from difficulties in transforming a popular guerrilla army into a conventional one and accumulated over several years. Eventually they erupted in these dismissals and the violent reactions to them.
Timor is a desperately poor country and a small one. But it lies in a strategic location, near important seaways and huge gas and oil resources. Historically it was on the limits of Indonesian and colonial influence. Its recent history has therefore been pockmarked by interventions from larger powers. Mr Annan is right to argue that UN troops left prematurely and that more preparation should have been done for full independence. But a new round of international intervention must be carefully planned and calibrated. The Australian-led force now patrolling the capital has prevented further violence but cannot stay indefinitely. There is no mandate for that; the longer it lasts the more the suspicion will grow that larger strategic and resource considerations are at play.
Elections are due in Timor next year. Properly organised, they could provide a mandate for political renewal, alongside a new international force designed to help that process. Ireland was involved politically and militarily in Timor's fight for independence and should renew its interest in the country's present difficulties.