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Police open fire as riots and arson grip Timor

Source
Melbourne Age - December 5 2002

Jill Jolliffe (with Mark Forbes, agencies), Dili – East Timor's capital, Dili, was torn by riots yesterday in the worst violence since 1999, after police shot dead at least two student protesters.

The government last night imposed a state of emergency with a 7pm curfew after student rioters trashed the parliament building and torched hotels, shops and a mosque.

Police and security forces appeared to do little to contain the rioting, which erupted after a crowd of about 500 students marched on police headquarters demanding an explanation for the arrest of a student at a secondary school on Tuesday.

Police first fired warning shots when the crowd started pelting the building with stones. A witness said shots were then fired into the crowd at close range, killing two and wounding nine.

The deputy head of the United Nations peacekeeping force, Brigadier-General Justin Kelly, said there were "unconfirmed rumours" that shots had been fired from the crowd. One witness put the death toll at five, but UN and East Timorese officials put the figure at two.

Australian troops and staff in Dili have been recalled to "secure locations" around the capital. A Defence Department spokeswoman said they had been withdrawn to safety but any United Nations request for assistance with security would be considered.

It is understood that Australian peacekeepers are not involved in attempts to restore order. About 1100 troops and defence staff are stationed in East Timor.

A Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said a bulletin had been issued to all Australians in Dili to avoid the central area and immediately leave the parliamentary precinct. They were advised to "remain indoors and monitor news reports". All Australians in the area are believed to be safe.

Officials denied speculation that Australian troops were being readied in Darwin to fly to East Timor to restore order. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he was concerned about the situation and officials were monitoring developments.

During yesterday's rioting, President Xanana Gusmao had to be escorted to safety when he went to police headquarters to appeal for calm. He later blamed un-named provocateurs for the violence.

East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta described the violence, the worst since Indonesian-led militias laid waste to the territory after the vote for independence, as a "very serious turn of events".

After the shooting, the crowd rampaged through the city and by mid-afternoon buildings and cars were burning in various suburbs. Targets included the Australian-owned Hello Mister supermarket, which was set ablaze, as was the Dili mosque. Rioters also burnt down a house owned by the family of Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

In a radio broadcast, Mr Gusmao appealed for calm and called on parents to keep the students off the streets. He said he understood the students' anger, but added: "There were those among them who were not from the [arrested student's] school, and it was they who provoked it." As the riots gathered pace, he went into the street to appeal for the students to end the violence. They listened but did not obey.

Some government officials said they suspected a radical nationalist group known as RDTL was behind the rioting. "This is an orchestrated manoeuvre to topple the government," Internal Affairs Minister Rogerio Lobato told AFP, the French news agency.

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