Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Troops On Timor Streets After President Shot

From The Times Online:

Reinforcements flooded into East Timor today to enforce a state of emergency as President Ramos-Horta remained in a serious condition with gunshot wounds a day after an apparent coup attempt.

Eleven people are understood to have been questioned over the attack, in which the rebel leader Alfredo Reinado was killed leading a band of rebels that shot Dr Ramos-Horta up to three times. Xanana Gusmão, the Prime Minister, was uninjured in a related attack.

Read more ....

More News From the Telegraph: East Timor President 'Lucky' To Be Alive

More News From The Independent: East Timor Reeling After Coup Attempt

My Comment: We now know that the leader of the coup and assassination attempt was a former East Timor rebel leader known as Alfredo Reinado. Trained by Australia, he deserted the East Timor Army last year complaining of regional discrimination in Army promotions. Peace negotiations were underway, but it is clear that these talks fail in the past month.

For a fragile and new democracy in the heart of Indonesia, this is terrible news for all those who have been working very hard to develop and bring peace to East Timor. It is also clear that for the U.N. and Australia, this instability is a black eye in their attempts to bring peace to this region.

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