East Timor imposed a curfew on the capital Dili Wednesday after a day of rioting in which up to five people were shot dead and the prime minister's house was burned down.

Part of the city was in ruins after hundreds of protesters went on the rampage, burning cars and a supermarket and looting offices after the police shot a student earlier in the day.

Packs of young men smashed their way into an office building and dragged out furniture and computers which they set on fire in the street as a UN helicopter hovered overhead.

By evening the streets were empty except for UN peacekeepers and East Timor security officers protecting embassies and guarding shops to stop looting, residents said.

The prime minister, Mari Alkatiri, appealed for calm.

"Today's events mark a very sad note during our country's first days of independence," he said in a statement.

The clash was the most serious Asia's newest state has suffered, and is a blow to the efforts to establish a peaceful democracy.

East Timor won its independence from Indonesia in a blood-stained referendum organised by the UN in 1999.

An estimated 1,000 died as militias supporting the Indonesian government in Jakarta, and elements of the Indonesian armed forces, terrorised the East Timorese and forced the evacuation of many towns and villages before the UN sent in peacekeepers.

Early Wednesday about 500 students protesting about the arrest of a student on Tuesday clashed with the police.

The protest turned violent when the police shot one of the protesters, according to a Reuters photographer, who added: "The police tried to take the body from the students but they refused and there was another clash and the students set fire to a supermarket."

The protest was staged outside the police headquarters, where dozens of police were on duty. A witness said some officers who were not in uniform began firing into the crowd.

The protest then moved to the parliament building about two blocks away, where more shots were fired and a senior politician was hit on the head with a stone and injured.

"At least five were killed and I saw another six people in a minivan being taken to the hospital with really bad injuries," another journalist at the scene said, adding that it was police who opened fire. "Some [of the protesters] had gunshot wounds and some were beaten."

It was not immediately clear why the student was arrested on Tuesday.

Witnesses said that between three and five people were killed in the clashes but the UN and the government said that one person was killed and at least six people, including the politician, were injured.

"President Xanana Gusmao and Prime Minister Alkatiri have said they heard two people died but couldn't confirm it," a foreign affairs official said, adding that it might take some time to discover whether more people had been killed.

The foreign minister, Jose Ramos-Horta, who is visiting Spain, called the violence a "very serious turn of events".

Earlier a cabinet member said a state of emergency had been declared, but this did not seem to be the case.

The UN in East Timor said that Mr Alkatiri had spoken on national radio to clarify the confusion.

"We heard several ministers today say a state of emergency had been declared, but the prime minister has since said there was no such thing and just told people to stay at home," its spokesman, Brennon Jones said.

Residents said several shops were still smouldering late in the evening, and a burnt-out car was lying in the middle of a road.

A supermarket opposite the parliament building was almost burned to the ground, but was then guarded by a dozen armed peacekeepers to prevent further looting.

"In my part of town things are quiet but a 7pm curfew has been put in place," a resident, Wayne Lovell, said.

"My impression of what happened here today is that is was due to a lot of things that have been building up over the past month but mostly, people are not happy with the government. It seems the government has promised too much and hasn't delivered."

The UN provided a transitional government in East Timor for almost three years after the territory voted 78.5% in favour of breaking away from Indonesia after 24 years of often harsh rule, and the country is still struggling to get on its feet.

Indonesia occupied the territory in 1975 after a confused withdrawal of Portuguese colonial rule, and at least 200,000 East Timorese were killed as it imposed its control over the next four years.

Its annexation, which was followed by the settlement of about 150,000 Indonesian Muslims alongside a mainly Christian population, was not recognised by the UN.

(China Daily December 5, 2002)