AUSTRALIA: East Timor President says troops reacted too slowly during assassination attempt

Record ID: 556007

  • Title: AUSTRALIA: East Timor President says troops reacted too slowly during assassination attempt
  • Date: 28th March 2008
  • Summary: (W1) DILI, EAST TIMOR (FILE) (REUTERS) GOVERNMENT HOUSE SOLDIERS GUARDING THE ROAD SOLDIERS HOLDING GUNS ROAD BLOCKS POLICE CHECKING A MAN'S VAN POLICE LOOKING AT CAR HOOD SOLDIERS GUARDING THE ROAD
  • Embargoed: 12th April 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Australia
  • Country: Australia
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAAG2D4H6PX5ZLQ0P37PMTEDAS6
  • Story Text: East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta believes Australian-led forces could have reacted more promptly to capture his assailants.
    East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta recalled on Thursday (March 27) how he stared at a rebel soldier's face moments before he was shot, saying he only avoided being hit in the chest because he turned to run.
    Ramos-Horta, who is convalescing in the Australian city of Darwin after surgery for gunshot wounds he received in the February assassination bid, said he watched as a rebel soldier raised his rifle and fired at him from less than 10 metres.
    The president said he unwittingly walked into the ambush after speaking to a bank worker who told him international forces were exercising near his house.

    "The gunman was there hiding near my gate and he took aim at me and I was just lucky that as I saw him, I turned around to run and that is why he didn't hit me in the chest on the left side, but hit me on the leg on the right side," Ramos-Horta told Australian Broadcasting Corp. television.
    He said he lay bleeding on the ground for 30 minutes, shouting for an ambulance. He said he lost about four litres of blood but was saved thanks to blood donations given by members of the Australian defence force in Timor.
    Rebel soldiers ambushed Ramos-Horta during an early morning walk on February 11, and also attacked Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao.
    Ramos-Horta was shot several times in the attack in which rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed, while Gusmao escaped unharmed. Rebel soldiers blamed for the attacks have managed to escape being captured.
    He said that the rebels who tried to assassinate him could have been caught if international troops had immediately locked-down the capital Dili.

    "I think if Australian-led forces could have promptly surrounded the entire town, close all the exits, using helicopters, sending immediately elements to my house, they would have captured them within hours, because for hours after the attack on my house they were still in the hills around my house," he said.
    But the president did not blame the Australian forces for allowing the rebels to escape, saying they only reacted to the request from United Nations.
    Ramos-Horta said he hoped to return to Timor next month.

    "I am physically, mentally very well. I still have pains related to the wounds and surgery, but they are bearable," he said.
    Ramos-Horta was seated during the interview, wearing a white shirt and speaking strongly -- unlike an earlier media appearance earlier in March when he looked frail as he thanked Australian doctors for saving his life.
    He said he was hopeful Timor would remain peaceful.

    "I think a lesson has been drawn from this, that we must clearly step back from violence. I can not guarantee that there will be no further violence in the country, but the vast majority of people in the country are more shocked than before."
    East Timor, Asia's youngest nation has been unable to achieve stability since its hard-won independence from Indonesia in 2002.
    The army tore apart along regional lines in 2006, when about 600 soldiers were sacked, triggering factional violence that killed 37 people and drove 150,000 from their homes.
    Foreign troops were sent to restore order in the former Portuguese colony of about one million.
    ENDS.
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