austraLasia 1543
Thousands take refuge in Don Bosco compound in
Comoro-Dili
DILI: 29th April 2006 -- While news on the ground
from reliable sources is sketchy at this point, austraLasia has learned
that there are large numbers of people who have taken refuge in the
compound in Comoro - up to 5,000, the source indicates. The
President, Xanana Gusmao has made an attempt to address the crowd, but
they were not in a mood to listen.
General news sources, including of all agencies,
Aljazeera, have reported on the deaths of two people yesterday and
injuries to at least some 30 others, some of which are gunshot
wounds. The reports do not agree on whether the two who were
killed were civilian or police, which indicates a degree of
unreliability about the news reports thus far. What seems to be
clear is that the crowd could not be contained by the police and that
police fired into the crowd, but it is also clear that police were
beaten by members of the crowd.
Today, Saturday, the army has been sent into the
city to reinforce security and avoid further outbreaks of yesterday's
violence.
A large number of ex-soldiers have been the initial
cause of the trouble. They are 'ex' because sacked by the
Government. They were sacked because they were protesting in the
barracks about their working conditions. From what one can piece
together, it appears that they were largely soldiers from the western
portion of East Timor, who bore the brunt of the fighting at the time
of the Indonesian departure, and they are of the opinion that their
efforts have not been fully recognised.
As more news comes in from Salesian sources in the
midst of all this, in Dili, we will let you know.
For additional information, further comment, go to BoscoWiki
austraLasia page.
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