What caused the current upheaval in East Timor? The World Bank’s President, Paul
Wolfowitz, visited the country in early April, 2006 and hailed it as a model of post
conflict recovery. He praised Timor-Leste’s social and political harmony and stability,
due to the ‘country's sensible leadership and sound decision making which have helped
put in place the building blocks for a stable peace and a growing economy’.1
However,
the World Bank did state in July 2005 in a major assessment of the state of the country
that: ‘Despite considerable progress, the current stability in Timor-Leste is fragile, and
the country remains vulnerable to conflict