East Timor's embattled prime minister resigned today after saying he would take a share of responsibility for a political crisis that has gripped the country for over two months.
The news of Mr Mari Alkatiri's resignation was welcomed by thousands of protesters who have been demonstrating in the capital for the past week; they cheered and car horns blared as word of his resignation spread.
Mr Alkatiri said he was stepping down in order to avoid the resignation of the nation's widely popular president, Xanana Gusmao, who had threatened to quit himself unless the prime minister left office.
Mr Alkatiri has been widely blamed for violence that erupted in late May after fighting within the armed forces spiralled into rioting, arson and looting in the streets of the capital, Dili.
Demands for his resignation have been the rallying cry during protests by thousands of Timorese that peaked in the past five days after damaging revelations in an Australian news documentary linked him to a plot to arm a civilian militia.
After a 1999 vote for independence marked by violence blamed largely on pro-Jakarta militia with ties to the Indonesian army, an international peacekeeping force moved into the territory, ushering in a transitional period of UN administration before East Timor became a fully fledged nation in 2002.