Foreign peacekeepers were brought in to restore order to East
Timor's capital Sunday when fighting broke out between rival ethnic
gangs after the discovery of two mutilated bodies.
The fighting, involving stone throwing between two groups of
youths, took place at the Comoro market but was halted by the
arrival of about 100 foreign police personnel, according to
reporters at the scene.
The violence is a reminder of the chaos that gripped the tiny
country, one of the world's poorest, in May after large sections of
the military deserted complaining of discrimination.
?
Youths from the eastern part of the tiny country, one of the
world's poorest, were incensed after bodies of two men from the
Baucau and Los Palos districts were found with their arms, legs and
heads removed and placed in sacks.
The two were believed to have been killed after approaching a
checkpoint set up by the western group in Dili's Aimutin area.
"We just cannot accept that our friends were killed like
animals, like dogs," said Joao da Costa, 21, a member of the
eastern district group which set up a checkpoint of its own near
the market.
A UN police member, Emir Bilget, speaking through an
interpreter, asked the youths to take down the blockade of stones
and wood and trust the police to investigate.
"I hope you calm down. The police already know who killed your
friends and now we are seeking for testimonies from you so that the
perpetrators can be dragged to court," Bilget said.
Australian soldiers also arrived on the spot and immediately
combed the area. UN police from New Zealand and Malaysia have also
been deployed.
(China Daily October 23, 2006)
