Sorry.

Looks like he shot Ramos-Horta, and is fessing to it.

So much for the third hand. Salsinha’s got about 3 days to turn himself in, the net is closing.

As for better future: I predict yes. Already 500 of the 600 petitioners have come to Dili to deal with the government - in droves since Feb 11. Rumours that the only reasons the rest havent is intimidation from Reinado supporters in Ermera.

Reinado appears to have been the main blockage preventing a resolution.

Toohey may be right to wrap the story up here, but it remains to be seen whether the “other people” precipitated a better future for the people.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23297722-2703,00.html

Geez, I could told him that stuff was bollocks 3 weeks ago.

In fact, I did.

Plus they were taking some return fire from a Prime Ministerial guard in XGs car.

I might add there’s no suggestion Reinado’s men are crack troops. Most were MPs - and havent been on active duty for 2 years.

I tend to lean the other way on the the XG incident though. I know the rumours about Monteiro, but he’s not a one man show. Plus the “not riddled” assertion comes exclusively from the same journo who has brought us every mad evidence-free rumour circulating Dili, plus several completely incorrect assertions (eg ‘Pires is Fretilin’. Anyone who knew her would laugh). He seems to be backtracking a wee bit in the latest piece, which is substantially testimony for XGs driver, rather than the Monteiro-approved case.

Plus, Ive seen one picture of the car - and the only bullet holes I saw were high up, two, back door. Not tyre shots. How many high shots do you need before you conclude it was at an attempt on his life, or at least, reckless toward it?

My concern is that the rumour mill is whipping up an exculpatory story for these thugs in Reinado’s gang. Wanna know who was behind them - track them down and interrogate them.

Also: XG immediately called it a coup, an attempt on his life. He conducted 100s of set piece ambushes in his time, and knows a fair bit about them, and what they look like.

Okay, the “vehicle+S (that’s plural) in the convoy took 45 rounds. So the assailants were shooting at all of the convoy, not specifically at Gusmao’s Toyota. Or they were very very dud shots. They were armed with Steyrs and M16-derived M4s, both have built-in telescopic sights. Or this was just a bit of panto.

“…most of them aimed at Mr Gusmao’s car”. So, let’s say 30, or a whole M4 magazine. That would definitely be “riddled” as far as I am concerned. Toohey was then not allowed to see the damage and was “ordered away” away. Toohey says the car “did not appear to be riddled”.

Is Longuinhos Monteiro, on the level?

Background note: East Timor’s Prosecutor General Longuinhos Monteiro was born in Maliana district and is the former Deputy of UN-appointed Prosecutor General Mohamed Othman. Othman is a Tanzanian judge with experience at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Longuinhos Monteiro has a law degree from Udayana University in Denpasar, Indonesia, and was appointed Investigating Judge for the Dili District Court in January 2000. This is after the United Nations Transitional Administration took charge so presumably he was appointed by the UN.

Longuinhos Monteiro comes onto our bullshit detector screen with the news of the serial ransacking of East Timor’s Serious Crimes Unit ans subsequent disappearance of many of its high-value files.

The unit (now disbanded) was established by the UN to investigate the violence and massacres in 1999 perpetrated by the TNI and pro-Indonesian militia around (before and after) UN-sponsored referendum on independence. Files on the massacre at the Maliana police station were stolen, for example, holding the indictment of crimes against humanity against relatives of Longuinhos, Natalino Monteiro, who led and participated in the Maliana killings and Ruben Monteiro, charged with murder.

Longuinhos Monteiro told the media that his offices had been looted on several occasions and up to 15 per cent of the criminal archive had been stolen.

This is another one of those East Timor mysteries: why, with 1300 fully-armed Australians, plus 140-strong Portuguese riot squad, plus other UN troops, those vital records, which also included evidence against the Indonesian General Wiranto, were not safeguarded with a bit more assiduousness. I mean, you’d have to ask. And who was in charge? Longuinhos.

I am speculating that Gusmao would have been glad to be shot of the files as he tries for accommodation with the elephant in the room, Indonesia. Such a carelessness with the files would have been seen in a favourable light in Jakarta, no doubt.

Incidentally, Longuinhos Monteiro himself came under pressure from Gusmao to try and withdraw the indictments against Wiranto, but the Special UN Judge rejected the motion.

Australia, and let’s not forget the US in the background, of course, aren’t all that keen to go after Indonesia either and hence open up a can of worms (or if you prefer another cliche, a Pandora’s box). So, it is just possible that Australia was never guard those files all that carefully.

The Europeans on the other hand, represented on the ground by the ex-colonial masters Portugal, want the International Court of Justice to get involved. Then there are the expectations of the Timor Leste punters, many of whose relos were butchered by the militias.

I guess Gusmao is caught between a rock and hard place.

As far Jose Ramos Horta concerned, he might as well just come back to the family home in Liverpool, New South Wales.

February 22, 2008
East Timor in renewed hunt for would-be assassins
By Stephanie March in Dili
East Timor’s police and military have started a new operation to search for the rebels
Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao says East Timor cannot afford to sit and wait for the rebels to come out of hiding.
“We are starting to go after the rebels. We will go after them and destroy them - destroy them so the people have stability, destroy them so that we can develop our country,” he said.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/22/2170446.htm?section=world

That’s a bit rich coming from the ex East Timor rebel commander Jose Alexandre “Xanana” Gusmao.
Seems like he is not going along with JRH’s idea.

Here is a curious exhange between Andrew Denton and Xanana Gusmao.

“ANDREW DENTON: Oh, really? Just trying to think. Thank goodness you didn’t take, because this was the early ’70s, wasn’t it? You could’ve taken a disco name. You could’ve been known as Captain Boogie. That would not be good. You could’ve been known as Shaft. Well, it’s a very cool name, I have to say, and if I ever have another life I’m going to call myself that.

XANANA GUSMAO: But not Banana.

ANDREW DENTON: Oh, right.

XANANA GUSMAO: Meaning the Republic of Xanana.

ANDREW DENTON: Xanana Republic, yes. It’s such a cruel game, politics, isn’t it? ”

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1417333.htm

No one was hurt.

Maybe he became a Tiger Cat, a deer, or a bat.

You cant shoot Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, little men.

The ‘third force’ theories are looking rather dodgy.

The Australian Thursday, February 21, 2008

Gusmao driver tells of headlong flight from ambush

Paul Toohey

DILI — ADOLFO Suarez dos Santos, Xanana Gusmao’s driver since 2002, has no doubt the men
who ambushed his boss last week had lethal intentions. The two bullets that lodged in the
back of his seat proved that much.

Mr dos Santos has revealed for the first time how he got the East Timor Prime Minister
out of harm’s way as his motorcade came under heavy fire from four angles by ramming the
vehicle in front, tearing down the hill on three tyres and later marching his boss
through the jungle to safety.

Speaking to The Australian, he said at about 6.15am last Monday, one of the Prime
Minister’s advisers, Joaquim Fonseca, called to say that President Jose Ramos Horta’s
compound was under attack.

Mr Fonseca, who lives near the Ramos Horta villa east of Dili, wanted to warn Mr Gusmao,
who lives in Balibar, about 10km up a winding, narrow road in the hills above the
capital. But Mr Gusmao decided he would head to his Dili office regardless.

“We readied the cars to go down the hill,” Mr dos Santos said.

“We heard the shooting. The car in front of us stopped and blocked the road for the
Prime Minister’s car as the guard returned fire out of his side window. The Prime
Minister was trapped behind this car and couldn’t get out.”

The attack was aimed mainly at the Prime Minister’s car, he said. “I was working out how
to get out of there. I straightened up my car (and) rammed the vehicle in front, which
was blocking my way. I hit it hard.”

Mr dos Santos said Mr Gusmao was calm. “He was just saying, `Take off, go’. The
ambushers were positioned in four points on either side of the road. When they saw no one
had died inside our vehicle, they started firing low. The front left tyre was shot out as
they got past the car in front.

“I could not know how many shots hit the car. Two bullets hit my back seat but didn’t go
all the way through. The back window was shattered. They were trying to kill me, but they
couldn’t do it.”

Mr dos Santos said the Prime Minister’s car was not fitted with bullet-proof windows. He
said Mr Gusmao also never carried a telephone. His own phone battery was too low to call
out but even if he could have called, his priority was to get Mr Gusmao to Dili.

They drove the crippled Toyota Prado about 6km down to a spot called Fatunabo, where Mr
dos Santos declared the 4WD could go no further. He hailed a truck loaded with people.
“I said to the driver, `Please take the Prime Minister and us to Dili’,” he said.

But Mr dos Santos was still worried about the possibility of an ambush on a bend just
ahead and realised they might be placing the truck passengers in danger. They asked the
truck to take the bend and wait for them on the other side of a valley.

Mr Gusmao, Mr dos Santos and the armed guard walked for about 1km through the jungle as
people emerged from scattered shacks and started following them. “The Prime Minister
told them to return to their homes and stay there,” Mr dos Santos said. “They said,
`Yes, brother’.”

The third vehicle in the convoy had returned to the Prime Minister’s residence, where Mr
Gusmao’s Australian-born wife, Kirsty Sword-Gusmao, and their three children had also
been under attack.

The fourth vehicle from the convoy arrived and collected the three men from the roadside.
They told the waiting truck they would not need their help and drove to Dili, where Mr
Gusmao walked straight into security meetings.

Mr dos Santos did not have time to examine how many bullets Mr Gusmao’s car took. The
Australian briefly inspected it before being ordered away and it did not appear to be
riddled. But Prosecutor-General Longuinhos Monteiro said the vehicles in the convoy took
about 45 bullets, most of them aimed at Mr Gusmao’s car.

He said Major-General Alfredo Reinado’s second-in-command, Lieutenant Gastao Salsinha,
who has strongly denied any involvement, had been positively identified in the events at
Balibar.

Mr Monteiro said minutes before the ambush, Lieutenant Salsinha and another rebel had
approached Mr Gusmao’s residence and pointed their weapons at the police guard. Mr
Monteiro said the guard said to them: “If you take my weapon, you must kill me.”

“They asked, `Where is the Prime Minister?’ They said the Prime Minister had already
left. Salsinha seemed to want to go in the back of the house, asking where the Prime
Minister’s wife and kids were. Suddenly, he turned back and fired once in the air. What
did this mean? It was a signal to the men below to ambush.

“Our conclusion is that if Salsinha had found the Prime Minister in the house, he would
have taken him alive. But because he had already left, the decision was to kill him.”

Mr Monteiro also said 11 men, including Reinado, had gone to Mr Ramos Horta’s house —
seven with rifles, one with a pistol and three who were possibly drivers. He said there
was evidence of 75 shots being fired in the presidential compound but they were “still
counting”.

Reinado was killed in the exchange, which left Mr Ramos Horta fighting for his life in a
Darwin hospital.

“Lieutenant Colonel Lance Collins was one of several intelligence officers who highlighted the existence of a pro-Indonesia group of bureaucrats, academics, media and business people - the Jakarta Lobby
He has since been moved to a training position, despite his claims being substantiated in an investigation by Captain Martin Toohey in 2003.
The Government has denied both his allegations and the findings of Captain Toohey, who agreed with Lieutenant Colonel Collins that a pro-Jakarta lobby existed and that DIO “generally reports what the Government wants to hear”.

“Since I became involved in this thing six years ago, I’ve been confronted with a legion of hired liars who keep pushing this message - I’m just doing my duty, I’m doing what I’m told - and that’s actually the ethics of the hitman, nothing personal, just business.” ”
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,16035060-2,00.html

Remember the US warship off Dili when Little Johnny Howard , having been badgered relentlessly by Australia’s Catholics, finally sent Australian troops into Timor L’este.
Then back in 1975, President Ford and Nobel Peace Laureate, Henry Kissinger, gave Suharto the green light to invade the hapless country.

The tentacles of hegemony extend far indeed! Anybody would think that Freeport McCord operatives have found gold or copper in abundance in E.T. Dolly and The Indons screwed them senseless over the Timor Gap Oil. One suspects quite reasonably There Will Be Blood again.

If you want to find out who was an accomplice, it will be whoever lent them the new govt car.

My guess is it was the same people who told them about XGs deal with 100 of the petitioners. The one that made Reinado flip his lid.

my point above is that Reinado’s group are responsible for some very serious crimes, any way you slice it, irrespective of whoever else was involved, or recently in his ear.

My gut feeling on the whole thing is this: Reinado turned up to surprise JRH, angry about a perceived betrayal, wanting to yell, strut and threaten, but without any real intention to capture / seriously harm him. But it was reckless, stupid, poorly planned, and all got out of hand. Pissed off after his death, his men shot JRH either deliberately, or while shootly wildly at FDTL in the gunfight, or he was caught in crossfire.

His men, however, DID intend to kidnap or detain XG. Whether pre-planned, or an angry reaction to Reinado’s death (they had time), they intended to do it, but he got away. Like he always does.

The whole scenario suggests to me they saw JRH as a potential ally, but were unsure whether they were getting shopped, and they didnt trust XG at all. They were already angry at him, as per the DVD released earlier. He wa a target when the forced meeting with JRH went wrong.

And that all points back to the petitioner/ betrayal/ loose cannon reaction theory. A theory which doesnt really require active third parties; merely intrigue, and a shifting pattern of friends and enemies.

Did he intend to kill JRH and XG? Im sure he didnt.

Did he recklessly wade, univited, unexpected, and armed to the teeth at 6am into a security compound? Yes.

Did his group then engage in a running firefight with FDTL guards in which (and we know not how) JRH was shot? Yes, clearly.

Did another section of his group then fire on the Prime Ministers car, forcing him to flee, as far as he knew, for his life? Yes.

I dunno about TL crim law, but in Au a dangerous act (eg firign guns) in the pursuit of a criminal purpose (eg kidnapping, armed assault) is still attempted murder by law.

I might add that not one single shred of evidence has been put forward for alternative theories. All we get is his uncle reckons this, his men (ie actual suspects) reckon that. Seriously.

As for Uncle Alves himself - let me tell me something of him. He killed a Liurai, a big man on Atauro Island in 99, in front of 50 witnesses. Then came up with a famous cock and bull story about how how his gun spun through the air and went off accidentally. then he claimed the guy was militia, which he wasnt. Farcical court case ensued, bla bla, he got off.

I wouldnt believe a word he said.

The Prosecutor-General cast doubt on whether Reinado went to Mr Ramos Horta’s villa with the intention of killing the President. He agreed he was looking into the possibility that Reinado might have been set up to pay his early morning visit on the basis of false information he had been given by his civilian supporters.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23237835-25837,00.html