2008 East Timorese Assassination Attempts - Aftermath of The Attacks

Aftermath of The Attacks

Vicente Guterres, the Vice-President of Parliament, became acting President following the attacks; he was soon replaced as acting President by Fernando de Araújo, the President of Parliament. Lieutenant Gastão Salsinha said that he had taken over as head of the rebels after Reinado's death and claimed that the attacks were not assassination attempts. According to Salsinha, presidential security started the fighting.

At Gusmão's request, Parliament extended the initial 48-hour state of emergency for ten days on February 13, with 30 votes in favor and 14 abstaining. On the same day, Prosecutor-General Longinhos Monteiro said that he was about to issue warrants for the arrest of 18 individuals in connection with the attacks, whom he did not name.

Angelita Pires, said to have been Reinado's lawyer, was arrested in Dili on February 17. Prosecutor-General Monteiro said that Pires was suspected of having information about the attacks because, according to Monteiro, she let Reinado (a wanted man) stay in her home on the night prior to the attacks without notifying the authorities. Three others were also thought to have been arrested in connection with the attacks by the time Pires was arrested, along with more than 200 arrested for violating the emergency laws put in place after the attacks.

Prosecutor-General Monteiro said that Reinado's group had initially intended to merely kidnap Ramos-Horta and Gusmão, but that this plan had failed and that they had therefore switched to their backup plan. Meanwhile, Araújo said that the government would engage in no further dialogue with the rebels and that there was an arrest warrant for Salsinha.

Strong disagreements regarding the events became increasingly visible in the East-Timorese political system: Mário Viegas Carrascalão (former Governor during the Indonesian rule and present President and Deputy of the Social Democratic Party), as well as Mari Alkatiri (former Prime-Minister and Secretary-General of the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor - FRETILIN), have both voiced their doubts on the existence of an attack on Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão. Likewise, Reinado's adoptive father declared to LUSA and to Portuguese television that he had spoken with Salsinha, after the death of his son, and that Salsinha denied that there had been an attack on Gusmão.

On February 22, Parliament voted to extend the state of emergency by 30 days.

Amaro da Silva Susar, who is said to have participated in the attack on Ramos-Horta, surrendered on March 1 at Turiscai without resistance, saying that he wanted "calm" to return to East Timor. According to da Silva, he participated in the attack but did not actually shoot Ramos-Horta.

In early March, Araujo visited Ramos-Horta in Darwin. He said that Ramos-Horta had forgiven Reinado for the attack and did not understand why Reinado had wanted to kill him. According to Araujo, Ramos-Horta, who had started walking again, was "very lucid, showing his concern for the country and the responsibility of the head of state"; he wanted the people to remain calm and wanted a full investigation to take place.

A message from Ramos-Horta, still recovering in Darwin Private Hospital, was broadcast on March 12. In this message, he thanked his supporters and Australia and said that he had "been very well looked after". A spokesman said that his condition was improving and that he was taking short daily walks for exercise. Meanwhile, his brother Arsenio Ramos-Horta said that President Ramos-Horta had identified Marcelo Caetano as the man who had shot him. Arsenio said that Caetano had been shot in the 2006 violence and that Ramos-Horta had taken Caetano into his home at that time to help him recover. The President's office declined to confirm this identification due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Ramos-Horta was discharged from Royal Darwin Hospital on March 19, although he said that he would stay in Australia for physical therapy for "a few more weeks". He also said on this occasion that he had remained conscious following the shooting and "remember every detail", describing how he was taken for treatment. Thanking the hospital staff, he gave them Timorese coffee. The hospital's general manager that he was "inspired" by Ramos-Horta's recovery from such serious injuries, although he said that Ramos-Horta would probably continue to suffer pain from the injuries for a long time.

On March 23, Parliament extended the state of emergency for another month. On the same day, Ramos-Horta went out in public for the first time since the shooting, visiting St Mary's Catholic Cathedral in Darwin. Meanwhile, Salsinha was reported to be negotiating his surrender in Maubesi. The authorities have placed a priority on obtaining his peaceful surrender, concerned that if he is killed, what he knew about the attacks would be "bur with him". Four other rebels surrendered on March 22.

Later in March, Ramos-Horta said in a television interview that it had taken a long time for an ambulance to arrive after he was shot. He also described how he had looked into his attacker's eyes and, seeing that the man was "determined to fire", he "turned and ran" immediately before being shot. According to Ramos-Horta, the UN wasted a critical opportunity to capture the rebels who participated in the attack by failing to surround Dili and close off the exits. Australian Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon said in response that Ramos-Horta was "in no position ... to properly judge the timing".

On April 17, Ramos-Horta returned to Dili from Darwin; he was greeted at the airport by politicians and dignitaries, tens of thousands of citizens lined the road to the airport. He gave an emotional press conference at the airport in which he urged Salsinha and the remaining rebels to surrender; however, despite Salsinha's insistence on surrendering only to Ramos-Horta in person, Ramos-Horta said that he would not go to meet with him for this purpose. He also said at the press conference that Reinado had not had a prearranged meeting at his house on the day of the attack, describing this as a "lie". On his return, Ramos-Horta immediately resumed the Presidency from the acting President de Araújo.