CANBERRA - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer says he has been told the East Timor police force no longer exists as a functional body.
An extra 45 to 50 Australian Federal Police, expected to arrive in Dili in the next 24 hours, would be largely taking over a forensic and investigative role there, he said.
And one of their roles could be to investigate the killing of nine East Timorese police in a single incident by East Timorese soldiers.
"The Foreign Minister of East Timor (Jose) Ramos Horta told me yesterday that the East Timorese police just don't exist any more, they've become completely dysfunctional," Mr Downer told the Nine Network.
"So we'll have to have a look at what's actually happened there and whether it's possible to rebuild the East Timorese police or whether Australia, or perhaps more broadly the international community, will have to go back there again and provide the bulk of the policing role.
"It's too early to know that, but the 50, initially, are really only going there for forensic work and investigative work."
Mr Downer said the sort of crime in which the East Timorese military shot and killed nine police two days ago would be investigated by the AFP police.
"If the East Timorese government makes a request for us to do that, we would happily do that," he said.
"We need to have more discussions about that sort of detail with the East Timorese."
Mr Downer said he believed East Timor as a nation still had a future.
"I think there is, if you like, an essential nationalism and national identity about the people of East Timor," he said.
"But it's a very, very new country. After all, the referendum was only in August 1999.
"Full independence has come relatively recently. It's going to be tough for them."
Revenue from the country's oil and gas fields was starting to flow but it would be quite some time before the revenue became substantial, Mr Downer said.
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