Dili – East Timorese and UN anti-riot police arrested at least 16 students Tuesday during a second day of protests at the national university against a plan to import cars for lawmakers.

Around 500 students rallied outside the National University of Timor Leste to condemn the procurement plan, after 21 were arrested in a similar protest there on Monday.

The students carried banners reading "Stop plan to buy luxury cars" and "We need lower food prices" as they gathered on the campus, which is opposite parliament.

Police used a loudspeaker to remind the crowd that protests are not allowed within 100 metres (yards) of public buildings.

The students claim the government has ordered 65 Toyota Landcruisers from Japan for more than two million dollars but the government says the order is for only 26 cars at 900,000 dollars.

East Timor, which gained independence in 2002 after 24 years of Indonesian occupation, is one of the world's poorest nations with an unemployment rate of around 50 percent.