Police investigate 14 suspects

Police investigate 14 suspects

DILI, East Timor: Police have begun investigation into 14
people suspected of inciting the riot during the festivities
celebrating the arrival of Dili Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo
from Europe on Dec. 24.

Antara quoted East Timor Police Chief Col. Jusuf Muharam as
saying there were initially only 12 suspects. The number may
increase because there are still other people believed to have
been involved in the incident.

He said the police had confiscated bullets from the 14
suspects.

Muharam also said the people who attacked the 12 military
personnel, one of whom died, had been identified.

Tens of thousands of East Timorese welcomed Bishop Belo on his
return from Europe after receiving the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize
last Dec. 10.

People lined the streets for seven kilometers from Komoro
airport to the cathedral in Villaverde, west of Dili, where the
bishop lead a mass.

The ceremony was marred by a scuffle that broke out in the
airport waiting lounge shortly before his arrival.

The angry crowd smashed the airport souvenir shop windows and
damaged a car parked outside.

An off-duty army corporal, Alfredo "Siga" Dos Santos, was
killed by the mob outside the cathedral. (swe)