December 5, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 29,1423

DILI, Dec 4: East Timor authorities clamped a curfew on the capital on Wednesday 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.

Packs of young men, laughing and shouting, smashed their way into one office building and dragged out furniture and computers which they torched on the street as a UN helicopter hovered overhead.

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.

East Timor’s Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri appealed for calm.

“Today’s events mark a very sad note during our country’s first days of independence,” he said in a statement.

Wednesday’s clash was the most serious yet for Asia’s newest nation and a blow to efforts to establish a peaceful democracy after East Timor won independence from Indonesia in a bloody 1999 UN-based vote.

About 500 students clashed with police early on Wednesday in a protest sparked by the arrest of a student on Tuesday.

Anger erupted after police shot one of the protesting students, a witness said.

“The police tried to take the (dead) body from the students but they refused and there was another clash and the students set fire to a supermarket,” said that witness, a Reuters photographer.

The protests broke out in front of police headquarters where dozens of police were on duty. Another witness said some began firing into the crowd. He said those who fired the shots were not in uniform.

GUNSHOT WOUNDS: The protest then moved to the parliament building about two blocks away where shots were also fired and a senior politician was injured after being hit on the head with a rock.

“At least five were killed and I saw another six people in a minivan being taken to the hospital with really bad injuries,” said another witness, a journalist, adding that it was police who opened fire.

“Some (of the protesters) had gunshot wounds and some were beaten.”

The reason for Tuesday’s arrest of the student was not immediately clear.

Witnesses said between three and five people were killed in clashes between police and several hundred students but the UN and government authorities put the official death toll at one and said at least six people, including a politician, were injured.

“The (official) 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 Caroline O’Brien, adding it could take some time to ascertain whether more people were killed.

Foreign Minister Jose Ramos-Horta, on a visit to Spain, called the violence a “very serious turn of events”.

CITY SMOULDERING: 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 Alkatiri also spoke on national radio to clarify confusion over the state of emergency.

“We heard several ministers today say a state of emergency had been declared but the prime minister has since said there was no such thing and just told people to stay at home,” UN spokesman Brennon Jones told Reuters.

Residents said several shops were still smouldering by late evening and a burned out car was lying in the middle of a road.

Opposite the national parliament, the “Hello Mister” supermarket was almost burned to the ground but guarded by a dozen armed peacekeepers to prevent further looting.—Reuters