Dili - Gang violence killed one person and destroyed or damaged 35 buildings in the small East Timor town of Viqueque, a senior UN officer said yesterday. UN staff and aid workers were ordered to stay in their compound for their own safety on Monday night. Fighting erupted between two groups of youths on Monday after a youth was murdered in the south-eastern coastal town. Witnesses said the fighting involved up to 300 people at one point.
The latest bloodshed comes just a week after the worst rioting since Indonesia's military rule ended in 1999. A week ago, a mosque was torched, UN staff assaulted and UN vehicles damaged in the eastern town of Baucau.
David Shanks adds: Meanwhile, the Australian chief of the UN Civpol force, Cmmdr Gary Gent, has been criticised by the International Federation for East Timor for remarks he made questioning Timorese people's understanding of democracy. Cmmdr Gent was quoted as saying planned elections in East Timor would lead to violence because the Timorese "don't understand what democracy is all about".
Mr Charles Scheiner of IFET, pointing to the overwhelming 1999 vote against Indonesian rule, said the people "understand democracy better than most Western democracies". The remarks showed the police had little understanding of the communities they worked in, added to a climate of fear and showed a "a very bad example" to fellow officers.