Dili – A mob hurled rocks at the motorcade of East Timorese independence hero Xanana Gusmao and one of his supporters was shot dead Sunday amid growing violence ahead of parliamentary elections on June 30, police said.

Xanana was unhurt in the attack in the town of Viqueque, around 100 kilometers southeast of the capital, Dili, said police inspector Jose Carvalho. Several vehicles were damaged, though it was unclear if Xanana's was among them, he said.

Earlier in the same district, a single gunman at close range killed one of Xanana's supporters during a rally in support of the party he formed to contest the upcoming polls, he said. UN spokeswoman Alison Cooper confirmed a man was shot in Viqueque. She said the attacker was believed to be an off-duty police officer.

East Timor, which broke from Indonesian rule in 1999 in a UN sponsored ballot, had been heralded as a success in nation-building until a rift in the police and armed forces escalated into gunbattles, looting, arson and gang warfare just over a year ago. The violence killed 37 and drove 155,000 from their homes.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was elected president on May 9, raising hopes of stability, although more than 3,000 international police officers and soldiers are needed to maintain peace and order. Ramos-Horta took over from Xanana, who will become prime minister if his party wins on June 30.

On Thursday, a hand grenade blast killed a man and wounded three others, while supporters of rival candidates clashed with machetes and rocks elsewhere in the country, wounding a dozen people.

Political commentators fear that efforts by Gusmao and Ramos-Horta to sideline Fretilin, the traditional party of resistance to Indonesian rule which currently holds a majority of seats in the legislature, could lead to more bloodshed.

East Timor or Timor Leste, a former Portuguese colony, is the youngest and poorest country in Asia, with an unemployment rate of around 50 percent and about two-thirds of children under five malnourished.