Friday, November 10, 2006

'Ice' in East Timor

An explosion in the use of a dirty form of the drug "ice" among East Timorese youths is fuelling gang violence on the streets of Dili and sparking fears its distribution may be part of a wider move to destabilise the country's Government.

An adviser to the East Timorese Prime Minister said that an exploding level of methamphetamine use had contributed to the fighting that had left up to 10 people dead in the past week.

"It's nothing to do with enjoyment," said Jose Sousa-Santos, the Prime Minister's youth liaison officer. "It's more a pre-battle ritual."

He said much of the violence centred on two large martial arts gangs that contained about 30,000 members across the country.

"Keeping those two groups from going at it is probably my main concern at the moment," Mr Sousa-Santos said.

Source

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