Dili (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Ramos Horta, President of East Timor has been seriously wounded in the stomach in a pre dawn attack led by rebel leader Alfredo Reinado. Horta underwent emergency surgery in the Australian military hospital in Dili and is due to be airlifted to Darwin for further care. He will be put on an intensive care machine during the flight.
Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres said that Reinado was shot dead during the attack which has the hall marks of being an attempted state coup. The gunmen also targeted the home of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao who escaped the attack.
Reinado deserted the army in 2006 just after 600 petitioning troops were sacked by the Government resulting in weeks of prolonged clashes with police. The subsequent violence left 37 people dead and 150 thousand homeless.
The 2006 crises also rocked the government. In order to stabilize the situation the UN sent a peace force to Dili led by Australian troops.
Reinado was accused of being involved in several shooting incidents during the violence and charged with murder.
But he escaped from jail and, with a group of followers, had since been holed up in the mountains, refusing government pleas to surrender.
East Timor gained independence in 2002, after a long and violent period under Indonesian colonial rule. Ramos Horta, who from exile worked for the nation’s independence, was awarded the Noble Peace Prize in 1996. He had been Prime Minister since 2002. Following the 2006 vote he became President; while his predecessor, Xanana Gusmao became Prime Minister.
Public offices and schools remained closed today and security was stepped up across the country. Jakarta has sent troops to its border with East Timor.
On January 21st last Ramos Horta had met with Benedict XVI in the Vatican. A Holy See Press office statement had said that the pope and the East-Timorese president had discussed “the political and social situation in the country, in particular, the process of national reconciliation and the international community’s support in the consolidation of democratic institutions”.