abstract:Falintil (or FALINTIL) originally began as the military wing of the political party FRETILIN of East Timor. It was established on 20 August 1975 in response to FRETILIN’s political conflict with the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT).
East Timor may need international peacekeepers for years, and Falintil's 1, 000-plus troops (compared to the PKF's 8, 500) are not about to replace them any time soon.
Both Gusmao and Jos Ramos-Horta, the CNRT's No. 2 and de facto foreign minister, have reportedly proposed that Falintil troops could be integrated with the U.N.