DILI — East Timorese police said on Monday that one person had been killed in demonstrations that erupted after the ruling party announced that the opposition Fretilin would be excluded from a coalition government.
Police confirmed they had fired warning shots and used tear gas to disperse mobs that gathered Sunday evening in the capital Dili, only minutes after a live broadcast of a National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT) party conference.
"We have received information that one (person) has been killed in Hera," a village just outside Dili, said National Police commander Longinhos Monteiro, adding that the circumstances were being investigated.
He said about 64 vehicles -- including five owned by police -- were damaged around Dili.
"A couple of people have been injured and seven houses have been burned" around the impoverished half-island nation of 1.1. million, he added.
At Sunday's conference Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao's CNRT party announced it was inviting the Democratic Party, which is part of the current government, and the smaller Frente-Mudanca into a coalition.
The United Nations sees the polls -- and their aftermath -- as the last big test that will decide whether its remaining 1,300 peacekeepers and other security staff can withdraw.
If a government is formed without any major violence, the United Nations peacekeeping force plans to withdraw before the end of the year.
"We're not treating it (the violence) as a major security incident," said Sandra McGuire, communications chief for the UN's Integrated Mission in East Timor (UNMIT).
"The unrest was contained by the National Police itself so that's an indication of their ability to cope," she said, adding that UN peacekeepers had played a "supporting role" in dealing with the violence.
CNRT's decision to team up with the two smaller parties will keep the left-wing Fretilin, which was the second most popular party with 25 seats, in opposition for another five years.
Formal negotiations to strike up a coalition are likely to begin once the Court of Appeal announces the final election results this week.
The July 7 vote was a key test for the fragile democracy, which celebrated a decade of formal independence in May.
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