Dili – Police in East Timor's capital fired tear gas Monday to disperse students protesting a plan by lawmakers to buy themselves new cars with state funds, authorities said.

Officers detained 21 students during the rally in Dili for "investigation purposes," said National Police Chief Inspector Afonso de Jesus. He did not elaborate.

He said officers fired the tear gas to scatter the students because they violated an earlier agreement not to get too close to Parliament. There were no reports of injuries.

Parliament voted last month to buy new Japanese-made cars for its 65 members. The students carried banners protesting the decision, saying state money should be spent on rice, not cars.

East Timor's 900,000 people are among the poorest in Asia and have been battered by soaring fuel and food prices.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, broke from 24 years of Indonesian occupation in 1999, when 1,500 people were killed by militias and departing Indonesian troops. After three years of UN governance, it declared independence in 2002.

The country descended into chaos again in April 2006 when security forces split into warring factions and the government collapsed amid widespread looting and arson.

Gunbattles and gang warfare killed 37 people, and more than 150,000 were forced to leave their homes. Tens of thousands still live in squalid camps.