Timor Leste President Jose Ramos- Horta was shot and wounded
Monday in the stomach by rebel gunmen in a predawn raid on his home
in the capital Dili, but his wounds were classified as not "life
threatening".
Also on Monday, the home of Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana
Gusmao and his motorcade came under fire in apparently coordinated
attacks, and Gusmao escaped unhurt.
The rebel soldiers attacked Ramos-Horta's house on the outskirts
of the capital at around 7 a.m. local time (1200 GMT).
In the attack, rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed and a
Timor-Leste soldier was injured, Indonesia Antara news agency
quoted military spokesman Domingos da Camara as saying.
After the incident, the president was brought to a helicopter
airport operated by Australian military for treatment and later he
was being flown to Darwin, a northern city in Australia, for
further treatment.
The Royal Darwin Hospital said in a statement it was on high
alert to receive Ramos-Horta.
Ramos-Horta, 58, won the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize for the
worldwide resistance campaign he spearheaded against Indonesian
rule while in exile after 1975. He was elected president in last
year's peaceful elections after serving as foreign minister and
prime minister.
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, who escaped a separate attack at
his residence, told a press briefing in the capital of Dili on
Monday that stability was immediately restored in Timor-Leste after
the pre-dawn attacks.
The situation has returned to normal and the country is under
control, he said.
Abel Guterres, Timor-Leste's consul in Sydney, also said the
situation in Dili and the surrounding countryside was calm.
"All security forces, military and police are on full alert and
hopefully the situation will remain calm," he said.
Former Timor-Leste prime minister Mari Alkatiri condemned the
attack on President Ramos-Horta, saying he was ready to cooperate
with security agencies to restore peace and stability in his
country.
Alkatiri, who was forced to resign after bloody conflicts
between police and renegade soldiers in 2006, said he was deeply
concerned and shocked by the fact that attackers could get access
to the homes of Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao to
launch the ambush, Indonesian leading news website Detikcom.
The tense situation has prompted the U.N.-administered police in
the tiny nation to raise the alert status to its highest.
Timor-Leste, the Asia's youngest nation, has been struggling to
return to stability after plunging into chaos in 2006 after the
government sacked about 600 soldiers.
The factional bloodshed two years ago killed 37 people and
displaced 150,000 people, with international peacekeepers needed to
restore order.
Rebel leader Reinado has led a revolt against the government and
has been charged with murder during the 2006 factional
violence.
(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2008)