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Protesters mobilize against 'dictatorial' government

Source
Lusa - April 19, 2005

Dili – Hundreds of East Timorese Catholics, angered by moves to demote religion classes in public schools, gathered in front of Dili's government building Tuesday to protest what they call "dictatorial" policies by Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri.

As dozens of police bared the estimated 2,000 demonstrators, some carrying images of the Virgin Mary, from approaching the government building, protest organizers said they would remain in place and await re-enforcements from across the country until Alkatiri met their demands.

The church-organized demonstration would continue "until a solution is found for the future of East Timor", Father Domingos Soares, the spokesman for the Dili diocese, told Lusa.

In a communiqui, Alkatiri said the unauthorized demonstration "in no way helps to create conditions for dialogue".

President Xanana Gusmao's spokesman, Agio Pereira, told Lusa the head of state would not intervene as it was up to the government to resolve the mounting tensions with the country's influential Roman Catholic Church over the school issue and other demands.

Gusmao, who was "accompanying the situation", believed "the demonstrators and the government will know how to overcoming their differences", Pereira said.

Rev. Domingos, who prayed with the growing crowd and repeatedly charged Alkatiri and his cabinet of authoritarian and "dictatorial" practices, said the demonstration could last for "some days".

Protestants were also participating in the protests, he said, adding he hoped the small Muslim community would also join in. While the protesters' demands remained vague, with speakers referring to the people's "suffering", the two-month-old war of words between the church and the government has centered on Dili's recent pilot program to demote religion classes in public schools to the status of an optional subject.

The demonstrators, who began gathering in Dili's government square early in the morning, launched their unauthorized action despite police having bared the entry into the city of some 200 protesters Monday evening.

Most demonstrators wore black armbands in a sign of mourning for "endangered democracy" and organizers told Lusa 30,000 protest T- shirts had been ordered.

Officials said the demonstration had not been authorized because the request had only been made Monday, not allowing sufficient time for official consideration.

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