EAST TIMOR: Newly independent East Timor put a curfew on the capital yesterday after a day of rioting in which up to five people were shot dead and the prime minister's house was burned down, witnesses said.
Part of the capital Dili was in ruins after hundreds of protesters went on the rampage, torching cars, a supermarket and looting offices after the shooting of a student by police earlier in the day.
Hundreds of students clashed with police in a protest at the arrest of a student on Tuesday. The reason for his arrest was not immediately clear.
Groups of young men broke into one office building and dragged out furniture and computers which they burned on the street as a UN helicopter hovered overhead.
The protest then moved to the parliament building two streets away where shots were also fired. "At least five were killed and I saw another six people in a mini-van being taken to the hospital with really bad injuries," said another witness, a journalist, adding that it was police who opened fire.
By evening, residents said the streets were empty except for UN peacekeepers and East Timor security officials on patrol, protecting embassies and guarding shops to stop looting.
"The \ death toll at the moment is at one . . . both President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Alkatiri have said they heard two people died but couldn't confirm it," said East Timor foreign affairs official Ms Caroline O'Brien, adding it could take some time to ascertain whether more people were killed.
Foreign Minister Mr Jose Ramos-Horta, on a visit to Spain, called the violence a "very serious turn of events".
Mr Alkatiri appealed for calm. "Today's events mark a very sad note during our country's first days of independence," he said.
A cabinet member had earlier said a state of emergency had been declared but this did not seem to be the case. A UN official said Mr Alkatiri also spoke on national radio to clarify confusion over the state of emergency.
Yesterday's clash was a blow to efforts to establish a peaceful democracy since East Timor won independence from Indonesia. The UN ran East Timor for almost three years after the territory voted to break from 24 years of often harsh Indonesian rule. - (Reuters)