Download  East Timor has marked the tenth anniversary of the founding of its own police force.

At a weekend ceremony, Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao said he hoped the handover of all police responsibilities from the United Nations to the Timorese force would be finished by the end of this year.

But the shooting death of a popular musician in Dili in December - allegedly shot by a Timorese officer - is just one incident that's raised questions about the capacity of the force.

Sara Everingham of Radio Australia reports.

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East Timorese have been marking ten years of independence from Indonesia.

It has not been an easy journey for the tiny nation.

More than half the population still lives on less than a dollar a day and unemployment is extremely high.

As Marianne Kearney reports from Dili while people have been celebrating the anniversary there is growing criticism that their independence heroes have not

done enough to improve everyday life.

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This weekend East Timor marks ten years since Independence.

It was on August 30, 1999 that the people of East Timor decided they wanted to be free of Indonesian rule.

More than 90 percent of the island's voting population braved the threats of violence and intimidation to express their will in the UN administered referendum.

But the breakaway vote sparked violence by Indonesian troops and pro-Jakarta militias. The bloody rampage left up to a thousand people dead.

It's not been an easy road for the world's newest nation but now the people of East Timor are beginning to tell their stories, mainly through poetry, without fear and repression.

Radio Australia’s Linda LoPresti reports.

Naldo Rei was just six months old when Indonesia invaded East Timor in December 1975.

He spent the first three years of his life in the jungle, where his family had fled for safety.

After his father was murdered for his work in the resistance movement, nine-year-old Naldo joined the clandestine resistance.

Throughout his teenage years, Naldo was imprisoned and tortured regularly for his covert opposition to the brutal Indonesian regime.

Now living in an independent East Timor, Naldo tells his story in the newly published book Resistance: A Childhood Fighting for East Timor.

Rebecca Henschke asked him if he feels as if he has achieved the independence he gave up most of his life for.