2008 East Timorese Assassination Attempts - Timeline

Timeline

February 11:

• 6h05 and after: A group of hooded, armed men in two cars with government license plates, led by Alfredo Reinado (the only one not hooded), proceeded to the Díli residence (in Metiaut) of President José Ramos-Horta. According to the UN preliminary investigation, the group consisted of 12 or 13 men in military uniform. About three of them stood at the entrance after having restrained the F-FDTL soldier that guarded the main entrance, and about seven, led by Reinado, went into the residence searching for Ramos-Horta. According to Associated Press, they "jumped from two cars, firing machine guns as they stormed the compound" shouting, "Traitor! Traitor!" They search the residence for Ramos-Horta who is not there.
• 6h30-6h40: A series of continuous gunfire is heard by a neighbour of the President's residence, Fernando Encarnação, according to statements he made to the Portuguese official news agency, LUSA.
• 6h40-6h45: Encarnação phones the UN security and tells them what he has heard. He is told the UN security forces already know of what is happening.
• 6h45-6h50: Encarnação hears a second series of continuous gunfire.
• 6h50-6h59:
  • Reinado is shot dead by the F-FDTL (Timor Leste Defence Force) inside the President's residence. One of his men, Leopoldino Mendonça Exposto, is also killed. According to the UN preliminary investigation, this happened after the F-DTL guard had been woken by a civilian employee warning him that there was a group of hooded men searching the residence for Ramos-Horta. According to Associated Press, the guard who killed Reinado stated: "I shouted Alfredo's name and then opened fire at his head with my machine gun because he was wearing a bulletproof vest," and "I fired many times, I don't know how many times".
  • A 17 year old niece of Ramos-Horta calls him on his cell phone while he is jogging, warning him that his home was attacked by a group of men. This warning is repeated by a foreign diplomat who wishes to remain unidentified.
• 6h59 and after:
  • Ramos-Horta, "making his way inland", "refused a ride from a passing vehicle and walked up the public road to the house escorted by two bodyguards with pistols", according to Associated Press.
  • Returning to his home, at about 20 m from the main gate in Boulevard John Kennedy, Ramos-Horta is fired upon by "by men laying in wait across from the main entrance to the residence". He receives two gunshot wounds in the chest and one in the stomach. According to Associated Press, "during the shooting, an East Timor soldier arrived by car and drove into the line of fire to protect Ramos-Horta, crashing into a signpost and a wooden fence before he too was critically injured". The attackers fled in a vehicle and Ramos-Horta staggered into his house. According to the UN preliminary findings, the fleeing attackers went into the mountains where they joined the group that would attack Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão.
  • A phone call is made to the National Operations Center warning about the situation. Immediately two units, one of the East Timorese National Police and another from the UN policy contingent, are sent to the President's house from Becorá, in the outskirts of Díli.
• 7h00: Group Bravo of the Portuguese National Republican Guard is called to the scene.
• 7h00-7h05: According to neighbour Fernando Encarnação, a car of the UN policy contingent arrives at the scene and blocks access to the President's residence. According to Ramos-Horta's brother, Arsénio Ramos-Horta, who was with him at the time, the UN police did not help his wounded brother and prevented access to the residence.
• 7h10: The first ambulance is called to the scene, according to the UN mission.
• 7h11: Group Bravo leaves its quarters for the scene.
• 7h13: Ramos-Horta phones his chief-of-staff Natália Carrascalão and tells her that he his wounded.
• 7h15: Group Bravo arrives at the residence.
• 7h23: Ramos-Horta is found by Group Bravo near a bambu fence.
• 7h25: Ramos-Horta, after being assisted by para-medic Jorge Marques of the INEM (Portuguese National Institute of Medical Emergency), is transported by ambulance to the Australian field hospital.
• 7h30 and after: Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão is told by one of his drivers of the attack on President Ramos-Horta. FRETILIN leader Francisco Guterres advises Gusmão to stay in his residence. Gusmão decides to go to Díli.
• 8h30 and after:
  • Gusmão's three car motorcade, having just left his second residence, is attacked by a group led by Gastão Salsinha. Under heavy fire, his security personnel are able to repulse the attackers. One of the motorcade vehicles reportedly left the road and rolled over.
  • Gusmão's residence in Balíbar (30 minutes drive from Díli) is surrounded by an armed group. Gusmão had just left, but his wife Kirsty Sword-Gusmão and their three sons were there. Kirsty Sword-Gusmão phones her husband and realizes he is under attack. She told LUSA that the forces led by Gastão Salsinha, who had left the attack on the motorcade, tried to take the weapons from her three security officers.
• 9h15 and after:
  • Units of Group Bravo of the Portuguese National Republican Guard arrive at Gusmão's residence.
  • Sword-Gusmão and her three sons, joined by Gusmão, are safely evacuated by units of the Portuguese National Republican Guard.
• Noon: Gusmão declares a state of emergency for 48 hours in a television broadcast.
• Night:
  • After being assisted in the Australian field hospital, Ramos-Horta is flown to Darwin, Australia, for further medical care.
  • Ramos-Horta arrives in Australia, accompanied by his sister Rosa Carrascalão, in a Careflight International aircraft and is driven under police escort to Royal Darwin Hospital.