Dili – East Timorese police fired off rubber Bullets and tear gas Tuesday to disperse hundreds of protesters who had occupied the tiny nation's government building to demand immediate elections.

At least four protesters, most of whom were members of the country's former Falintil resistance movement, were injured in the clash, witnesses said. Police arrested at least 30 people.

The demonstrators occupied the seaside government building late Monday. They were demanding reforms in the security forces and immediate elections in the country, which remains poverty stricken four years after it broke from Indonesian rule. The next round of elections are not due until 2007.

Ex-Falintil members have protested in the past because they feel they have not been given enough say in the running of the country they fought to liberate from Indonesia.

In December 2002, riots in Dili left two dead and destroyed dozens of buildings catering to foreign aid workers and consultants. Mobs also set ablaze the prime minister's home

Those riots were blamed on rising frustration at the slow pace of development in the country and jealousy at the lifestyles enjoyed by the foreign community.

Unemployment is estimated at between 60% and 80%. More than half of East Timor's 800,000 people live on less than 55 cents a day, according to the United Nations.

East Timorese voted to end Indonesia's 24-year occupation in 1999 and become independent. Indonesian troops and their proxy militias responded by killing 1,500 and destroying much of the half-island.

Fretilin, the party aligned with the resistance movement, won the country's first legislative election in August 2001 and now controls the 88-seat parliament.

Rebel leader Xanana Gusmao won the presidential election in April 2002, a month before the country became independent.