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.
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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)