Peeping Tom or rebel soldier?

DILI, East Timor: Military men are trying to prove that the man captured while watching them bathe in a river was a member of the Fretilin rebel group.

Chief of the Wira Dharma military command, who oversees security in this former Portuguese colony, said yesterday that Alex Soares, 36, was arrested last week in Lautem.

He said Alex was secretly watching troops soap up in the river when he was arrested.

"He will be released if there is no adequate proof of his rebel affiliations but brought to court if the investigation proves that he had a plan to undermine security," he said.

He said 15 Fretilin rebels had surrendered to the military over the three months since he assumed his post. They turned in three rifles, six hand grenades and more than 100 bullets, he added. (yac/pan)